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974.702
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1758049
mSSfJi^^^S ""^TORICAL
aENEALOCiV CQLLECTIOfei
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 01178 2791
BESSBOEO :
A HISTORY
WESTPORT, ESSEX CO., N. Y.
CAKOLIIsTE HALSTEAD ROYCE.
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3vi"rata on :Map.
The eugravc-r has omitted to indicate '-the Narrows'' in
the lake, betweerx Basin Harbor aud the opposite shore.
The liijht-houses at Crown Point and Split Rock are
omitted, aud also the "Hoisiugton cemetery, " ou the road
from Westport to Meigsville, where the road (.-rosses the
brook.
The camp at Nichols Pond is on the island in the pond,
and not at the southern end of the pond.
The little island just south of Arnold's Landing iscailed
on the latest Government survey "Ivock Tslaiul." but tlie
more common name is Chtra's Island.
{'..i.ijri'jht, J '.'02. /;.■.
\yill no one t^^ll me wlmi she sing.s?
Perhrt}>.s t!'.-.- plniutive numbers flow
For olfl. unhappv, far-ofl' things,
Aud battles loii<^' ago.
Or is it some more hiimVih:' lay.
Ftimiliar matter of tc-dav V
Some DatvHAl sorrow, loss or \):\ii'..
That has hetii. and may V>e a^L^ain ?
— ff'Mr'/>'//-'"-///'.s' '■lit'oper
To
X„unr ,rUI rr.r rn.-r fnr nuj honk „s >//. ,rnn],l hnr,
If,nl shr Jirr.l, sir ,n,n]<l han}nJj>n/ n,r {n nmh- //
/ fhr thuH if is.
Js shr Im.r nil fh. jJro.nrr nf rnl fi rn l,ul fn,rr rs. hnf
s'iil >rns i.h.<s.-l ,r;f]i nnlhin'l sn nnirh us ^-il], n h.n,<!/nl
,--f],,-,ril.llnnn,lsnrhhtrhirl:.,,-nn-s nn nnr rnrhii Jnlurs,
>'... f/u.n,jh sin l.-„r,r /Jn-Usf //.,// >rns in lilrrnlnrr, ]n-r ./--
/■■//,/ ;,/ " l...nh .,f ntinr n-nnh] hnrr }>,r„ hr.Jnnil ,U'"sn,r.
r/'/o',,/A /n,nn, 1 nn ,st r ns.f ,j run nrrtrJ ,rH h f In' soil nf
l.hirh I irritr. n,nl fn w, <>n^ ,'ls,- ran I </irt' nf ;/ h'>'.l.
"■ IV jinfrn r )nirj!(ho7'>'i ii:> fyoiii. tlvj iioimr of our .■'fy/.sv.'-.v
ivhohovcr i/Kik'^,<i fhe pant, thp diato'uf.or thefiUure preJo/rn-
TioM OVr the -preSP.'of, nrhjn-nc.nr, »/.<; •,'•?/ f^>:^ 'J.igir''^-ii of fJir.it-
htxj h^AyHj-i."
Chronological AccouDt.
I—Discovery aud ludiuii Oecupatiuu.
11 — Frencli and Indian War.
Ill— Gilliland and Bessboro.
lY — Raymond and tlie Revolution.
Y— Original Pateut.s.
Yl- Early Settlement. 1785 to 1815.
YlI-AYar of 1812.
Vin-lS15 to Civil \Yar.
IX— Civil AVar to 1S75.
X— 1875 to 190-2.
At tlie Coiit.-iinial ('olebral.ion of the fornifitioTi of
the county of Essex, N. Y., helJ in Juno of 1S99 at the
Court House in Elizabetlitowii, preparation was made
for tlie presentation of tlje history of each town in the
county. Tlie clioice of the anthtu's of these histories
was left with the supervisors of the several towns. In
the oa.se of Westport the wi-iter was requested to per-
form tliis task, which was accordinj^ly attem])ted, with
very little knowledge of its requirements, and no more
than a general interest in the subject. Tlnn-e were tw(j
months in which to write the history. As for mater-
ial, tliere w as tlie History of Essex County, b^■ VViuslow
C. Watson, admiralile in ev.."-\ way, but witli iitth' bear-
ing directly upon the story of Westport, and the later
history, published in 1S85 by Smith, with several pages
of rather incoherent information u}).)u the subject.
'L'l.ien there was the tine Atlas of Essex ('ouutv, pub-
lisheil in 1876, and a. friend lent me the New York
Gazetteer of 18C.0. . 1 went to look at IMiss Alice Eee's
lirst map of the village, ituule in LSOO, and copied the
letter which she had carefully framed, written bv
Judge Chai'les Hatch in 1SJ2 iu regard to the earlv
settlement e.f the town. Mrs. Eraucis L. Lee lent me
Palmer's History of Lake Chaijq)laiu, and one day 1
went into th'^ Town Clerk's otiice and took a hastv
hx.'k at the old book of the town records, copying the
first entry. \Vith this equipment 1 went to work, and
wdiat I put together was read at the Centennial.
It goes witliout saying that even tliis quautitv of ma-
terial could not have been well digested in two mouth's
time by a writer entirely new to the ^^■ork, and I found
myself jjunnted In continual discoveries of the incom-
pleteness, and, in some particulars, the actual untruth
of my so-called "history." Tliis was enough to com-
]ilete the fascination of the subject, and since then it
has formed u^.y chief mental occupation to tind/iut
wjiat was leally true about my native town. I grew to
rts|)cct my sul>ject more and more, and the mere at-
traction of my own interest seemed to throw in ray way
material hitherto undreamed of. Cousins in Chicago
sent ine the |>riceless Ma[< of Skene's Patent Miss
Alice ]_.ee's tact and energy- succeeded in recovering
from dt'sc-rts of hopeless unappreciation the map of the
northern part of the \ illage, made by Diadorus Holcomb
Un- "old Squire Hatch," a njap of the Iron Ore Tract,
and iUirr's ma]) of the County for LS29. Mr. Henry
Haruion Xc'ble, of Essex, chief clerk in the State tlis-
t<iri;ins' othce, l)eeoming interested in my work, dis-
covered for me in the othce of the State Engineer and
Suiveyor the map aiiTT field notes of Bessboro, of which
he secured certified cojiies,as well as an affidavit in
regard to Btssboro which forms our princi[)al evidence
in regar<l to th.- setlleiueut u[>'.)U it. Another map hy
j'hitt Kogers of the nortlu.u-n patents of the township
I liad the i^owd fortune to find in the State Engineer's
otlice, anil received a cojjv of it by the kindness of Mr.
\Vn). Fierson Judson, Deputy State Engineer. Cous-
in> at ]>a7,in Hai lior lent nu' faaiilv iianeis mit of an
old trunk in tlie attic. I myself copied almost the wliolo
of the old town book, from 1815 to 1875. Mrs. J. L.
Roberts lent me an invaluable scrap-book containing :\
miscellany of information about the Cliamplain valley,
and also, a prixe which was greeted with delight, two
copies of the AYestport newspaper published in 1842 an. I
1843. Hon. Richard L. "Hand afterward presented Miss
Leo with two more copi ^s, of 18-11 and 1841. Mr. Henry
Richards lent me four volumes of the Documentary
History of New York. When I began to study the
period of Burgoyue, Mr. Henry Harmon Noble seiit
me from the State Library the following books : Bur-
goyne's Orderly Book ; Stone's Campaign of Burgoyju-;
Memoirs of Gen. Riedesul; Journal of Madame Riedesel:
Pausch's Journal ; and Watson's Pioneers of the Cham-
plain Yalley. From his ovvu library he seut me Digby"s
Journal ; Hadden's Journal ; Journals of Major Rul)-
ert Rogers; Journal of Charles Cnrroll, and after-
wards Reminiscences of Bishoj) Wadhams, by the Rev.
Clarence A. Walworth. For tlie War of 1812 I con-
sulted Tiios. Wentworth Higginsou's History of th..'
United States ; New York, by Ellis H. Roberts; His-
tory of the United States, by E. Benjamin Andrews,
and Military Pajiers of Daniel D. Tompkins, publishe.l
by the State. Mr. Noble also copied for me some Mili-
tary orders and records still in mauuscrijit in the State
archives, and from the papers of his grandfather Gen.
Ransom Noble. I also received information from the
War Department at Washington.
In addition to^these books, and iierhaps othr-rs which
1 have forgotten, I have had mimberless interviews
with numberless people. Some have beeu \va3-laid
upon the street with abrupt and apparently irrele-
vant inquiries, and some have given me hours of
delightful reminiscence. For a long time it seemed
to me that whatever question I asked of anj- one, I was
told to go and ask Henry Holeomb, which I finally did,
and v.'as rewanled l\v receiving a vast deal of informa-
tion. ■ Mrs, William liichards has been of great help to
me ; so has Mrs. Karriet Sheldon and Mr. James Allen.
If 1 should recount the names of all the peojjle who
have answered questions, for me with patience and in-
telligence I should give something like a list of my
acqnaintauceri in AVestport. I have also received valu-
able letters from former residents, of which the most
detailed and helpful is one from Mrs. A'ictor Spencer,
.Saginaw, Mich. Miss Lee gave me a package of notes
and printed slips from Mr. David Tui'ner, of Washing-
ton, who published the West])ort uewspa[)er in tin'
forties.
Books from which many items of information have
been obtained are the life of Catherine Schuyler, by
Mary Gay Hnrnplireys ; Carrington's Campaigns of the
ilevolution ; Burgoynes Invasion, by Samuel Adam-;
Drake ; History of the Empire State by Lossing. Al-
together indispensable has been the article in Scributu-'s
3Iagazine fur February, 1898, by Alfred T. Mahan, upon
the Battle of Ijake Chann)lait), and 1 shall often refer
to Farknuin's volumes u[>ou the history of this region.
Of more value to me than manv books have Ween the
exquisite maps of the United States Geological Survey.
The bulletins of the ]Sew York State Museum have
been also helpful. ■
It is common in town histories to give long tables of
genealogy, which are always of interest. This I have
l)eeu entirely unable to do for this book. In a few in-
stances people have very kindly supplied rne with in-
formation in regard to their lines of descent, always in
response to my^iuquirie.s, and these I have been glad
to print, but to make an exhaustive showing of the
suliject would require years of work. >Jo one can
really obtain a perfect understanding of the history o:'
any town without some idea of the race and descent of
the people who live in it.aud'especially of those families
which have remained in it from generation to genera-
lion. Therefore I will give here a short account of my
own descent, as one, I think, entirely representative of
the town. I might have chosen tl)e genealogy of fami-
lies more distinguished, in remote and recent times, but
none more typical, and. naturally, ncme upon which
1 could speak with so' much confidence.
I can trace three lines of descent fr«)m ''first emi-
grants.'"— tlie first who came to this continent from the
old world.
I will begin witii iny fatlier's family, the Bartons.
The first whom we know was Samuel Barton, who
was a witness at one of the witchcraft trials in
Siilt-m, Massachus-itts, in 1G91. His testimony
was in favor of the woman accused as a witch
which we hop.' was n :it th-' rt^snlt of a spirit of contra-
viuess, but of an unshakable sense of justice. His wife
was Hannah Bridges, and ho had a large family, his
youngest sou becoming the ancestor of i\liss Clara Bar-
ton of the lied Cross. Another son, Joshua, was des-
tined to have no such distinguished descendants. He
lived in the towns of Leicester and Si)cnccr, in Massa-
chusetts, and his wife's name was Anna. They were
blessed with .^even children, the fourth of whom was
Timotliy, born in 1732, (and therefore of the same age
as George Washingt<in,) at Leicester. He fought in
the Ivevolution, taking up arras at the "alarm of Ben-
nington," when the approach of Burgoyne threatened
every home in New England. In 1753 he married
Hopsibah Stow, and they had also seven children, the
third of whom v.-as named Timothy Stow, and who en-
listed at Charlton, Mass., iu 1775. He married Phebe
Stone, and tliey i)ad no less than nine children. After
the Ivevolution they were stirred by that ])ioneer spirit
which moved so many at that time to emigrate west-
ward to newer lauds, and they moved to Bolton, on Lake
George, where the rest of their lives was spent, and
where they now lie buried. Theiroldest son was Simon,
and he it was who first canje into Essex county, settling
on a farm in Moriah in 1812, and living there the rest
of his life. He was a deacon in the Baptist church.
His wife was olive Gary, and it is through her that
black eyt-'s and hair came into the family. The origi-
nal Bartons were lilue-cyed. Simon Barton had a large
family, Well-known in this section. Perha])s the best
known of the skus who rfniaincd in Essex countv wa^
Dr. I>yui:i]n3aito)i. of \Vill>aior(.. Tlio ol.lest sou w.is
William, who settled in Crown Point. His son, .loLi,
Nelson, came to Westoort as a yonn^u; man, and lias
spent the greater {lart of his life here as a ear)-iage liia-
ker. Oar line- of Bartons seem to haxchefni mainly
artisans, always fond of working Nvith tln-ir hands.
When one of them has beeome a }djysit-ian, we often
remai-k that he is likely to m;dce a specialty of surgery,
showing this iid)orn tpudency. A love of music also
runs through t\u- family but we fancy th.at it is shown
more in the delight of making it u}i<>u an instrunn^nt
than in that of simply hearing it.
The Sawyers shcAV characteristics (juite dift'ereut from
these. A real Sawyt-r,- we say, can n<dther make a
hoot-jack nor play the tidille. If any one (jf the nann;
has thes.;^ talents, it comes m through some other ances-
tor. 'J'he first S.iwyer of whom we know anything pos-
itively is Thomas, h.trti in Lincolnshire, P^ig., in IGlo.
He came to Massachusetts in 1639 and settled in Lan-
caster, where he died and was huriei!, as his tonilistone
still stands to attest. In the attack ui)on Lancaster dur-
ing King Philip's Wai-, his son Ejdiraim was killed by
ludians, and from that-^lay until the Indian was dri^•en
west of the ]Mississip|.i, thcrt^ was always a Sawyer
fighting Indiaits. John, eighth in a familv of nine
children, moved to Tiyme, (Nmnecticut. His son Ed-
ward, boru at Lancaster in 1()S7, following the pioneer
instincts which seem to mark the famil}', was one of
ten men w!io first settled tiie town of Hebron, Coul.. in
ITiU. His son, born at Hebron in IT'Jl, we alw.ivs
speak of ;is '"I.-aac, tlio Tmliaii tj^hter."' He was twice
inarrietl. ami our Vine comes from tbe st'cond wife, an
Irisbwomau ami a MoFarland. (Wheaever red hair,
elo<jueuee or a sense of liumor develops in auv of our
race, it is at once ascribed to this Irish ancestress.) He
emigratf-d w ith liis faUiily into the wilds beyond the
Hudson river, and settled iu thti wilderness, high np on
tb.e ^^'est J^rancli oi tlit,' Dehiware I'ivor. He was there
at the time of the Indian massacres of Wyoming and
Cherry Valley, but soon remos'ed his family to the fort
at Schoharie. He and another man were captured by
four Indi;ins, Ijut kiUed tlnee i>f the Indians and
wounded tljf fcnirtli, and so esi'ai)ed. Stories are also
tokl of liis uite's courage in driving Indians away iVona
the house. His son Isaac was left an orphan at an ear-
ly age, and it was his lot to l>e a bound boy to a man
wlio went into the howUng wilderness of northern Ver-
mont and settled at Mouktou. Tiiis Isaac grew up in
rouglmess and ignorance, but was destined to be re-
deemed by the wife lie married. She was Mary Wil-
loughby, daughter of Joseph Willoughby ,a soldier of the
devolution and deacon ot a little Baptist church which
had sprung uji in the wilderness. Isaac became con-
verted, and tlien, throwing himself into his new experi-
ence with all the tire of his fighting ancestors, began to
preach. He knew iiis liible almost by heart, and in
those days no congregation asked for any better equip-
ment. Wonderful stories are-told of the power of his
preaching, and perhaps there is somi:- proof of this in
the fact tli.ut he had five sons who als.i Ijeeame Baptist
iiiiuist.M-s, all with iiioro eiluc;ition tlian he-. Ho li;i'l.
I think, four graiidsoiis who were ;^^^(l preachers, l)ul
most of tlieiii took to the medieal profession or t<. teueh-
iu^. He jourueveel over all northern New York and
Vennont founding ehurelies and preaching. In 18'2s]ie
came to the V.aptist cliureh in Westjioit, and reinaiiicd
as ]Kistor six Years. It was while he was here that hi-^
son, Milfo .Mcl'^arland, iiiai-ried niv grandmother, Caro-
line Halstead.
For niv grandmother's faniilv I must go hack to Hen-
drick Martcn.sen Wiltse, who came to Now Netherlands
from Copenhagen in ITioo. There he married Mai'garei
^leijei's. ainl eaine far n[>theHudson to settle at Es. ipn.-,,
Theri^ he was oaj^tured hy Indians at the Massa-re of
AViltwyek. l)nt escaped; and sp< nt the rest of his life
within the bounds of civilization, on Long Islan<l. liis
son Mctrtin mtirried !M aria "S'an ^^'v(•k. and had a son
?>IaitiMi who renio\ed (o Duchess county as ori.-: of the
earliest setth-rs, and became on<^ of the subst.'ititia]
Dutch farnxM's along the Hmlson. Flis wife's name
was Jannetje Snychim. and his youngestdaughter, Eyda.
laflerwa.i-d Angliei/ed to Jda.)was born aftei- her father's
death, in IT-tC. In Mi'A she married IMatt Rogers, and
in ITN'.' nn.ved with hite to l)usin Ilaibor. on Lak<
( hanii>l.on. J-')'<im thi^ line of \\'dtses comes .-i strai:;
<'f the ai't-loviiig, conteiii jflative, moiie v-uiald ng ])utch
blond, in str<aig contrast to ihe hardy contempt of
ln\nr\- f<-nnd in tlie Turijaii Saw vers.
The f.ither of IMatt Kog( rs was nanie-d Ananias, and
he lived at llunliegtnn, L,.ng I.Iand. We fondly le-p-
to jH'ove soiu.^ Jay that lie tU-sc.-nd.-.l {coia Tliouiii.s
llogers of the ^Mayflower, wlj.x^c son William niovod to
J^DUg Jslaiul ami there had a nuiueious iauiily--f;u- to(;
imuieiou.s for the eoiufort of thu toiling genealogist.
'J'he liogersos were closely conneeted with the Phitt.s,
and when the latter nioved fr«>ni LongJsh.ihd intoDuch-
ess county, before the Jlevulntion, Piatt Jlogers went
also, and so met and married Eyda. Wiltse. He served
in the Continental army during t)ie llevolutiou, and was
afterward one of |)ie "twelve patriarclis" of JMattsburgli,
who founded th:it town in 1780. In 1789 he moved to
Ihisin Harbor, <.n the Vermont shore of Lake Cham-
pI.iiiK opposite We.-tpMrl. He had eight ehil(h-en, and
of his four sons not inif,- t-ver married, so that there is
to-day no descendant of hi- bearing the name of Rogers.
His daughter Phebe niarrievl John Halstead., who sold
a farm in Duchess county to follow the fortunes of the
faiiiily in this legion. (His daughter liha ma rried James
A\'inans, and her deset-ndant^ still liv.^at Hisin Harbor, i
TM.ftt Rogers ami hi- associates in a huge land com-
pany i-wned S!;--ne"s patent, on Northwest Pay. upon
which the vill-ige of Wrsfport -nuv stands. After the
• hath of Pl.-itt le.g,.rs. in 17'.tS'. ;, portion of this lan.l
f>ll t.. hi> dau-ht.-r I'heb,., ;uid so John llal.-^tead moved
over th'- lake into tli.- n.-w Sfttl.-ment, and Ids w;is the
tir.-^t frame hou.^.- bnill in tin- villag.', in bSOO. It was
his d.aughf.'i,Car«. line I-:ii/a. who mai-ried Miles Mrpar-
huid Sawy,-r. Tl'.eii daughter. Phi-i)e Maria, njarried
JfJm Nflson Parton, and n..w we have brought all
thi -•• ani-.->.traI lie.- t^ thrii m.'. tiiiLT ["'int in Westp<»i't.
Mv sirttei'aud I e-ui cliiiiu to have been Ixn-n liere f.-r
three gHi)ei-;itious, with ancestors in tlie C'hiimiilaiu
valley since ITS").
Such a description of eacli of t!ie old families in the
township would show, I have concludt;d from my own
knowledge of them, a marked similarity. A great pre-
y)Oiiderance of pure English blood, coming here aft.-v
<Teuerations of residence in New England, is a charac-
teristic common to all. The dash of Irish blood is not
uncommon, buf the Dutch strain is less often met with.
As for the Iloyces, theirs is a New England hunily
too. The tirst record i.-^ at Lyme, Connecticut, on J;ong
Island Sound, from' which place they moved up tlie
Connecticut river, settling a.t AValpoU^, N. H. From
that place came William Toyce. eaily in the last cen-
tury, acioss the state of Vermont to L:dve Champlain.
and toidv the ferry fi-oui Dasin Harln.r to ll.ock Marbor.
At that time tiiere was a well-traveled road run.iiin.g t'-
the north acios.s the Split Ilock ridge, from the hmd-
ing iit liock ILai-l'or to Essex. i>y tliis loule eanie
many of the* early setflei-s from New England into
Essex, and some of the New Hampshire ]unees owmd
tracts of land in Ess.'x.. William Royce settled ii['on
this road, on the wt-stei ii slope of tlie Split Kock nn-nnt-
ains. He was farniliariy called 'T^ildad"" among lii>
neighbors, and the old road, lotig since disus<nl. is still
spoken of as the -'old Bildad road." William lloyc-
had sons and tl;uighters, and liis descendants now form
a huge and clannish familv connertion in the town- of
J'.ssex and W.->ti.ort, inlei man i-d with the Math-.r-
ami StatVonls aii-l Sarl'oril^ aiul Walkers, an,! ..ilj^i (,M
namt'S.
This book \V()aM never lia\<.' \)Oj'.u writUu or priiito'l
exce])t for the eiithu^iastiu cucoiii'a^euieiii <>f Mrs.
]-'r;incls L. J^t-e, whost; recjit death has been such a
loss to thr eommnuity. Hrrself the aiiihor of the oul\
t)ther Ijool; fver publishr-il liy a Westporl woman, lu.u'
interest in this hi.'storv ntj\;n' failed, and my pleasnie
in seeing- it in piint is dimmed by the thmight that it
ean now brin.i^ tiO''j>|easiire to hei'.
(.)ne word more. I have v\ritien this histor\' for niv
(.iv.ii tov. n>pe. >j'h' hist (,t all- th.ose who will care most
for it, and who will \nt most eharilabh- in their ju»V;-
ments. If I have made aii_\ mistakt- in it — and 1 do
not know of anything .so t asy to do as making mistakes
(nnles.s possibly it may be se.'ing the mistakes (if otln-r
peoplei— [ hope t'lat it win \u'. considered a duty, and
a kindm .^s ty. iut\ to eali n.y attmiion to it. If T have
put any e>iu'"s grandfatlni- in tlie wrong ])lare, or omit-
Icil anUldng whatv'\er that som.:> [»erson would like to
>fk' printed in a histor\ of the town, 1 hoijc 1 shall
bt,> told of it. r.e sure rliat 1 shall not i)r sur[.iisfd nt
any such eori-ction, foi th;' p'>int of view of one jierson,
ami that p.•r^^on by ni^. uu-aiis accustonicd to be in tln^
ei'iitcr of public cViMit^. ra\, not be cxptctc»l to takt; in
cvi-rything. it ma}- \':— if children wy f.)r it. as (lad
Hamilton >aid- tlmi tlit-re will lie another tMlition som.-
dav, with additions and. corrections.
And f..r the lest-- let mv little book be- read, as in-
de^di u h;i- [,..•, a; wilttec. in the -^iiirii of thi^ ouotati.-r.
fi-oiu a Al;'-str'i' of Arts oiatJ.Mi at a Hai\aifl C(->iiiuieiiee-
jueiit. ]iy ri'>l>frt jKiitlcft.—
''We ave lookin;.^ abioa,! ami had: after a literature.
Let us c-oiiie and live, aiul knew in living a liigli philo.so-
])ljy and faitli; s<. sliall wo find now, here, the oletnents,
juid iu our own i;o<>J souls the tire. Of every storiod
bay and elitl" wi.' will make soinethinir infinitely i]ol>Ier
than Sala,ui> or [Marathon. This pale Massaeliusetts
sky, thi^ saiidy soil and raw win<l, all shall nurture u>.
I'niihr nil Ijn in.rl.J hvjurv ns, nnr mm ,/,/, ,uh1 J<n„l sjmjl
CAliOLIXE HAL8TEA1) 1U)Y(.E.
West)>ort-on-Lake-Chain})lain, January, 1902.
God giveth u.s KemtMnbrance as a shield
To carry into wi»rfaro, of u cloak-
To keep us warm wlu'ti we walk forth uloue
Tis never irood uor bk'ssed to foriret.
]ili<TORy OF WKSTl'UUT
oi:ni-:uai. i )i:s(']iii^'n< )N.
TTestport .is a lavj^e, tliirily settled to\vii<liip in tlie
Adirondack region of ii>nthern New Yrtrk. It is onn
of tlie eighteen towns of the most mountainous counry
in the state, — that of Es<ex. Essex county has spw-n
towns v.liic-li horder on Lake Charni>hii)i, and of thnse
AVest{)ort is the eentrai (jnc. Its southern boundai-y is
very nearly coincident with the parallel (^f 41 deg. noitti
latitud.'. 'Jdiis parallel crosses Lakes Huron and Mit-h-
igan, and. ilio state of Oregon, touches th.- city of Avig-
non, in the south of France, and crosses tla- (rulf of
(ienoa. I'he meridian of V\'ost]>ort lies but ween 0 ~
and 43 - east of Washiiiuton.
1' . HISTORY nr wEsrroirr
XAMi:.
Tlie iiauit' of Westport ^\ as givoii to the to\\ii in 1815,
jii'ter it li;i(l IvUinvii at least tliirty years of recorded
liistorv. ^Ncthiii^,^ is aioi'e unlikely tbati that it was
named, after the I'^.ii^^lish Westport, in l^tjVDjishire, near
Plyiuouth,— tlie ^^'estpol■t frv>ai which Sir Francis
Drake set sad f'>r the 8i>al!i^;h main. NeitheM- ^VHS it
named from the town on bea\itiful Clew liay, in the
west of Ireland, in Conuau^ht, -where was the family
sea.tof that Tjcrd ^A'estport wlio hatl Thomas de (^nineey
for his tut(->r. It is true that 'William Gillilaud was an
IrislniKUJ, and tle\t if any man had a rit!;ht to name this
tosvn, that rii.>:ht was his, bnt he never called it NTest-
port. His name f..r the jdace was I'.ESSr.OKO, after
his daughtf'i- r,lizal)eth.
This nanu- we have taken the lil)erty to restore upon
our title-])ag(' and cover. (.)f all the twelve original ])at-
ents into which tin- soil of our township was divided, as
they were j^ianted l.y ]>ritish kinp; oi' American Congress,
(ine onl\ was named and setth-d by the man who first
owned it, and that v.-a.s Giililand's IJessboro. Upon it
stood the first settlement, and the only one lu-fore the
Eev(dnti()i!, which Ijroke into the moiK)tony of the
]n-imev;il forest. Had iln^ prificely plans oi Cxilliland
been fultilled, the (pniint and {)retty naj.ne wouhl never
ha.ve been ehan,L,'iHl. ?Tad (ieoru;e the Ihird of Eng-
land bet'ii a Sensible ujan, had Benedict Arnold bt^en an
honest one.- in a word, if tlu^ jnoneer work of William
tlillilaiid I, ad not bee.n swept (dean out of the Cham-
nisT(>in' OF wrsrroirr
\»\ixni valley by tju; rl)l) atiJ iiow of tlie tiaes (jf tlio
. Uevolution. the place wouK] still be; kuown by the
household luiiiio of the little daughter. It pleases us
to recall it, with its suggestion of family alTecti<;u and of
baronial rights, and we otlV;]- it to the nii^nKn-y of one
of the niost romantic and pietuiesquo figures in the
liistory of this region.
"Elizai-ie'Jitowu" is oiily a paraphi'ase of "13essbor(j,"
more stately and less niu.sical. It was chosen for the
title of the new township erected in 171)8, eoiuj)rising
the present tow)ishi[)s of Elizabethtown and West[)i>rt.
It was tlien thirty-four years siuce Gilliland's tirst en-
trance into the Chaniphiin valley as a colonizer, and he
himself had been dead two years, but his claim to c<;)n-
sideration was still recognized in the choice of a namf.
It is thought that those who named the township at
that time meant to Inmor the wife of Gilliland, riither
than his daughter, whfj bore the same name.
That Elizabeth, by tiic way, who has been so honored
in our Jiomeuclature married Dfiniel Eoss, Eirst Judge
of the C\)nrt of Common Pleas of Essex county, and
many of her descendants are still living in the eounty.
Slie was a child only one or two years old in ITbl,
when the patent of Dessboro was first >urveved ;ind
named, auel was at that time (xiililamrs youngest child,
though Milnns were born afterward.
The villageof Westjtort uas oiiginally calle<l "North-
west Ea\," taking its iMinjefrom theliay at the head of
whieh it stands. This bay is on.- of the hugest on th--
iakf, aja! uas named \rj\ earlv iij its hi>t.)rv. The
4 iiisTujiv OF wi:sTr<)Rr
Fieiii-]i eallf d it "Baiu des TtocliPr rtndus,"or "Bay oi' tlio
Split Kocks," and it is so marked on Sauthier's iiia]> of
1779. It is iutciestiii,L;- to noto how plainly this uame
iudicates the aj)])roacli of the FitMu h discoverers from
the north. -When the early explor.:n-s had r^ccasion to
refer to the bay, they said, "It is that great bay which
you enter after passing Split Rock, keeping to the deeji
Avator along t-he cliffs, as a careful sailor naturally Mil!.'-
On the other hand, tlie name of Northwest Ba^' shows
just as clearly the approach of the English from the
south. The bay west of Crown Point ft)rt, to which
we now give the old name of Bnlwagga,-- was then
caileil West Bay, ;tnd it seems ji'ain that Northwest
Bay was named by the ]-h)glisli with reference to this,
reckoning the points of the com}>ass from their most
im])ortant post, Crown Point.
Tliough otficially nameil We.^tpoit in LSb"), the vil-
lage lelained its e;irly name for njany \ears. As late
as ISiO We tind mentionetl t:ven in the town records
both Northwest iJay and Pleas;int Valley y{\u' oV\ naaie
of Elizabethtowni. Old people to this day speak of
going to"tlie ^'alley," andto'"the Falls," anil, es{ieciall\-
if they live on the high lands neai- the Ijlack Itiver,
••down to the l-ay." Old letters are still preserved
directed to '•Northwest Bay, Eliz d)etlitown."" written
*KOTK. Governor George Clinton called it "BuUwagen Bay," Jure 13. 17S0, in
a letter to Washing-ton, (Clinton Papers, MSS. Doc. No. 2970,) and also ia a ItUer
to Gen. Ho%ve,June 14, 1780, ^C. P. %'j-i,') and in a Ittterlo Col. Robert \an Rens-
>elaer, (date aboutjune 2, 17^.) writes, -Your letter of last night dated at Bull-
wa^jtn Bay." This \v;is during,'- the pursuit of Sir. John Johnson afur he had his
raid on Oic Muhawk valley, aiui was makiii^jf his escape to C"anada.
-Lctt.jr from H. a. XOBI.E.
jnsToh'Y OF WKsrroirr a
before the days of posL-office st!Uii]is, auil eviileiitly ia-
tcjideJ to be ean-iod by private ine-jseuger.
- The tt)wnship of Westport contains two post-
offices, Westport iuicl Wadhanis Mills, the latter
built upon the falls of the ]5o(iuet river, in the
nortliern' part of the town. This villuge was named
after Genei'al Limian Wadhaius, an early resident and
ruill-ov.uer, who wa^ prominent in the annals of the place.
It is likely that the present name was given to our
town by "old Judge Hatch." who wrote his name
"Cha-rles Hatch, lilsquire," and was a leading tigure in
oivr ancient history. Hv was one of a committee of
three appointed to run the line dividing the original
Elizabetht(jwu, which stretched from Keeue to the shore
of Lake Champlain, into two townships, the eastern of
which was the present. Westport. Traditi(jn has not
handed down to us the names (jf the other members of
the committee, but it is plain that ''the old Squire," as
we call iiim, must have known tin.' choice and agreed to
it. A wihl fancy suggests that one of that committee
was a Scotchman, born near the \\'est Port of Edin-
burgh, an I had aiicestors wlio were "v^ut in the '45,"
and s.uig, (if the song was written then,)
••TlKMi up with tin" West l\nt an' k't us ^mc free.
And Its lio! fur \Uv honu.-ts of liouuie DuikI.h':"'
Ibit thi' reason for the name is obvious enougli, and
tiie committee were not trying to be original. Doubt-
less thny relisjied the commercial sound of the "port'"
and saw visions of tin' harbor Hlled with sliipping, and
*i uisTdUY OF \vi:sri'<)irr
i^f'.'it liclies (.'oinini;' fi'oui the iron niincs. T\\v\ had
never s.-en the j^^eopiaphieal g.-i-ctteer of 19U0, with col-
niiiu i'ftei- cohmui of ;iii unhrolceii successuon of places
named Westj)ort ! We mav hxjk iqion it now as an iu-
terostinj^ hmgnage-proof that an Essex cinudv lake
tt.wn, in the ohl days, always looked to the lake for its
ntn)e.
r.orxi >AiM i:s.
\\'est[)oit is hounded on the nmih by the towns of
Lewis and Essex, on the east hy the state of Vermont,
on the south by tiie tiu\ n of ^^loiiah, and on the \\e8t
by the towji of Elizabe^htll^vn.
The north boumhiry is :< straight line, inn bv snrvev-
or"s ehain and eoiufiiss. It was intende-d t. . be a due
east-and-uest lin.', but nMiu- to the inipeifeetions of
saiveyors" in>tnui).>nts In the eight. •••ntli e.nturv, when
the line was run. it has a sliglit inclination to the in)rtlj-
t-ast and sonth-u t-st.'''
•NOTE Wnile studyinir the- s-jbjci-t of the old town lines, a. letter was received
from Mr. Wui. Pierson Jiidion. Deputy State Kni;incLT, with the following ex-
planation :
"The iine< which jrc shown on the Unitnl States Geological Survey maps
;ireTrue, (or aitrunomica',) Nrth-am! South and True E;ist-and-West, whilethe
old To.vn lines, to which vou rcfir. are the muKnelie East-and- West lines of iryj
The deviation >.f t!ie»e old lines i^ the ma^-netic declination of the needle at the
Uiiie the surveys were made. The (juestion as to how much this declination was,
and what the correct d-.rection of thcie lines should be, is one which has been, and
row i.s, before the Courts, ar.d has been the subject of much discussion and many
opinions."
This letter is intended to uns^tr t'.i.- question in a Kmcrai way, and is net to b,-
taken a.s s; ecitialU a; (..>mi' t.. .r.v ;;:it' vii.ar lir.e (.r 5-.t of lines.
iiisToin' OF WKSTj'oirr
It wculJ Hppcar from some ol J records thai the north
line was originally intended to ru)i to the mouth of the
Black river, but if i^o, a change was made at some time
unrecorded, perhaps when a new survey rectified the
lines of the patents.
We learn from tho old town records that in 18 iS our
uortheru boundary was in danger. At the town meet-
ing in March every voter gave his voice in siipport of a
resolution settijig forth that the citizens of Westport
did protest against a petition from the towji of Essex
to the state Legislature, which petition prayed that a
strip one mile wide of our domain should be set oif to
our uortheru neighbor. Our supervisor, then John H.
Low, was authorized to send a copy of the j'esolution
to our Piepresentative at Albany,' and the measures
taken were plainly suflicient to prevent further aggres-
sion from the north. - I do not understand this at all,
init I sii-<}iect a "scho'ol lioustj war,"" over a school dis-
trict which lay in both towns.
The eastern boundary is the irregular and invisible
lin--', .drawn throngh the waters of Lake Charnplain,
which marks the division between New York and Ver-
mont. If is not e(]uidistant from shore to shore, but
f .Hows the channel, or deepest part of the lake. The
towns east of this line are Ferrisburgh and Pauton, in
Addi-«)n county, Vt.
Th*- southern boundary is a straight line, except for
a small jog on the east side of Bald Knob, made for the
sake of consistency with the lines of some of the lots of
the Iron Ore Tract. This Hue was run in 18-19. From
>• iiisroh'Y OF \vi:srrnirr
]S1.-) to LS^O thrh.uiULlary was adingoha! liur frmn tlu'
soutli-.-ast ec>rii..ri)f Eli/alM:'t!it.)u ii to -'the olrl oro-boa
wliaif." wliicli w as tlio teiTniiius of on.- of the roatU frotu
tlieChf-everon'-l)*-!. This iu^'huh^.l IliMKnoh .iiid J'art-
k'tt poii.l, as woll as tho busy mining settlement of "the
Chcevor." ■ As a lar-er and hirger popuhitiou dustererl
around the mine shafts, there was, of course, an iu-
eiersL'd nujnber of voters, who were obliged to g(^ to the
village of Westpojt, eight or nine miles away, to cast
tlieir votes. With a polling ])laee only two miles away,
at Port ITeni-y, (his eame to seem quire al>surd, and
steps were soon tak.m to set off this southern tri;iugle
to the town of .^I.uiah. Our j.resent sinithern bound..-
ry was determined bv the sontliern line of Gilliland's
];essboro. as direeted by the act of tbe Legislature
whieh made the ehange.
Tiie northern });ut - ■!' tie' western boundary follows
th>; eour.-.e of th^e Idaek liver, "as it winds and tarns."
The t(nvn line is nol in the middle ■ f the stream, but
follou s the eastern b;.nk. Consequently every bridg.^
\\hieh crosses Blael: river is upon Elizabethtown terri-
tory, an.l must be built and repaired at the expensi'
ct that town. Thi-, caimv arrangement is due to the
shrewtlness of Squire Hatch, bent upon the advantage
of his own town, while the eoinmis^ionprs from EH/.a-
l»ethtown thought only of keeping control of as much
of the water power a.s po.~>.-,il,.li;,^:-
e\OTK. Aftor this W.I
I.. Brow.), -.iilor.i tne (oli.v.ir- ^•.h■.^h roil
t!cn. apptarc i .n the iilizabethtown Post (Georfft
the history of this Louri'larv
II] STORY OF WKSrroh'T 9
CHAPTER Xlll.
AN ACT for dividing Eli^abethtow^, in the Ccninty of Essex.
Passed March 24, iSij.
I. lie it enacted by the people of the State of New York, represented in Senate
and Assembly, That from and after the tir.st Moud.iy of April next, all that part of
Elizahethtown, in the county of Essex, bounded as follows, to-wit ; Heginning on
the north line of the said p;iizabethtown at the mouth of the Black river; thence
up the said river as it win.!s and turn* on the east shore of S:iid river, until it in -
t';rsects the south line of Mor<:an'» patent; thence due south to the north line of
Moriah; thence easterly on said line of Moriah to the ore bed wharf ; thence east
to tlie cast line of this State; theuce northerly on the east line of this State to the
south-east corner of Essex; thence west on ths south line of Essex to the place of
beginning be. and hereby is erected into a separate town, by the name of Westport,
and that the first town meeting be held at t)ie dwelling house now occupied by
Charles Hatch, in said town.
II. Be it further e'nacted, that all the reir.aininjir part of EHzabethtown shall be
and remain a separate town by the name of EHzabethtown and that the next town
meeting shall be held at the dwelling house now occupied by Norman Xewell and
son in said town.
III. And be it further enacted, That as soon as may be after the first Tuesday
in April u«xt, the supervisors and overseers of the poor of the said to\vns of Eliz-
abcth'.own and Westport, on notice first being civen by the supervisors of said
tor/ns for that purpose, shriU meet together and divide the money and poor belong-
ing to the town of EHzabethtown previous, agreeable to the last tax list, and that
each of the said towns shall forever thereafter respectfully maintain their own poor.
The above is copied from pag;c too of the bound volume of the Session Laws of
iSi4-iS. The late Judi^e Charles Hatch, who built the fine old brick mansion in
iS-'S v.hich still stands in the village of Westp'-.rt, who was noted for cunning and
shrewdness, is credited,with having drafted the above copied law, making the line
between Klizabethtswn and Westport follow the east bank of the Black River so
that the former to-.vii v.-ould be obliged to build all thr bridges across that stream.
However, in due time the matter was tested. It came about that a new bridjic
was needed across the Black River near the Nathaniel Pierson place just abo\e
Meigsvillc proptr, there being long and soir.ewhat expensive "approaches" to
construct each side of the stream. Tlie late Jacob Lobdell, son of Captain John
Lobdeli, of Battle of Plattsburgh fame, was Highway Commissioner in Eli;^abeth-
town, the late Marcus Storrs holding that office in the town of Weilport. Action
wascoin«enced in March, 1S70, to compel the town of Westport to stand lialf the
expense of conitruciing tlie bridge, approaches, etc. Richard 1... H»nd acted as
counsel for Elizabelhtown, Waldo, Tohey & Grover acting in behalf of Westport.
The matter in dispute was finally referred to Peter S. Palmer, the late well-known
Plittsburgh lawyer and historian. He decided, in accordance with the general
stitute applying to such cases, that the towns of Elii ibethtown and Westport
Were jointly and equally liable to the expenses incident to bridge construction, etc.,
along the Black River town lino. Reference to page 50 of the pamphlet of proceed-
ings of tlie Board of Supervisors for the year 1S74 shows that a judgment for $.^00
wus jiaid by Wc.-.tporL.
i(t . iiusTonY OF wKSTrmrr
The soutlioiii i)ait of the western bouudary is a
straiglit line Jrawu from the ]3hick river to the south
line of Elizabethtown. The point at M-hicli this lino
touches tlie Black river is also the point at which the
river is touched by the north line of Skene's patent,
and was determined by that fact. This was intended
to be a due north-and-.~,outh line, but it has the same
variation as all the early patent lines, a slight inclina-
tion to the north-west.
There was a dispute over the location bi the south-
western corner of the t<nvn after the ii'on mines near
!Miueville began to rir-e in value. All the boundary lines
were very clear on the map, but standing among the
rocks and trees on the mountain side, it was not so easy
to prove just where tlie early surveyors had intended
tliem to run. So a new survey was ordered, and it was
discovoed that the selikineut which had l^oen from the
first ctdled "Seventy-five," because it was believed to
lie upon Lot No. 75 of tlie Iron Ore Tract, in Eliza-
bethtown, actually lay upon Lot No. 48 in Westport
and Lot No. 47 in Moriah. There was a feeling of
gratification in \Vest[Kiit at the time to tiad that she
liad a larger share than was supposed in this rich terri-
tory, and it is curious to retlect how little it matter!^
now. None 'of our ancient border wars would be pos-
sible to-day. They wt;re all brought on by economic
conditions no longer to lie found. The water power (jf
the Black river is now worth no one's scheming. "The
Cheever" and '-S.-v-'nt y-fivc" put no large taxes into the
hands of the i.-olleeior, nor do thev furnish voters for
iiisrom' or wr.srroirr ii
town rueotiiHj; day. K.itlior lias the twwn dulf-cl oul its
iiitvigvc charity io the poor who ^vel•t• left .straii'.letl at
St'veiity-fivc for Years aftei- the mines shut ihjwii. To-
day I believe tliert.' are no more souls to be found there
than lived on the dry, hilly farms before ore l)egau tt>
be raised from the 'I'lion^i^srai shaft, and the short, briglit
dav of its jii'osperity dauiied.
CivinL;; uieasuremonts whicli do not claim to be exact,
but close enough to give a good general idea of the ex-
teiit of the town, the length of the north line is about
nine iniK's, and that of the south line live miles. From
the ncjith-east cornel-, ^\here the Essex line tout-lies the
lake, to the south-AVest cornel' at the mining hamlet of
"Seventy-tlve,"" as tlie crow flies, it is about thirteen and
one-half miles. If the same crow should tiy from the
month of iJlack river to the IMoriah line, he would go
a littlf less than nine miles, and if he tfew from the
month of the brooK in the village, straight west from
the lake shore until he came to the town line at
l>lack rive)-, he wouM go f(>ur and one-half miles. Fly-
ing frotn Nichols ]>ond, straight east to FlutV Point, he
wonldgotive and a half irjjles. J)ismissing the crow
fi'om our service, if a boy in a rowboat took a fancy
to follow every curve of the shore line, he might row
eighteen miles in ^^'est^)ort waters. Before ^Moriah
was ceded a jiart of our tiM-ritin-y in LS19. he might ha\e
rovvi'il tweiitv.
1:? lusTniiY OF \vi:sTi'()irr
Westport cannot bo .^aiJ to be densoly popalated
The censu.s of lOUO reports t]ie total ])opnlatioii as one
thousand seven hunared twenty-seven (1,727). This,
for a township containing about tliirty-five thousand'
acres, ^ives pl^'uty of breathing space. But the main
body of the popuUition i.s gathered within -an area of
not more t],an half the total aereag.,-- perhaps it would
not be incorrect to say within out-third. The vilhio-e
of Westport is reckoned to contain live hundred .ixty-
three suuls, and AVadhams Mdls .>,.e hundred sixty.
At the last presidential ..kx-tion, held in 1900 there
were one hundred and six votes east in the iirst or
northern district, and two hundred and sixty-nine iu
the second or southern district, making a t.>tal of three
hundred and seventy-fi\e.
Westport is not as thickly settled as it was fifty venrs
ngo, as vvdl be seen by the fuHowIng ligurus:
On J]arr'smap.of Essex countyrpubli.hcd in IS'^O
the popuhUion is given as one thuusund three hundred
twenty-two (1,322^ The t.wn at that tin.e inchuled ll.,
southern portion, containing the Chcevcr ore-bed s,H
otf to Moriah in 1S40. It. Isi5 the j.oj.ulation had in-
creased to f.vo thousand ninety-four (20;)1). Before
the next census the area of the township had been di-
minished by thelo.s ...f the territory menti<.ned, but
nevertheless we reached the highwat.-r mark of two
thousand three hundrc'd tifty-two (2:]o2i. ^^•estport
H'ls never coine up to tlmt level since, jf ^,^\{\,^ ,,..
-"'mb.uvd that J.ek.on ..p.n.d his luruave in IS IS
nisTiih'Y or WKsTj'oirj- 7.v
and tliose were the ,tr;il;i Jays of tlio iron busiuess. For
I lie next tweiity-fivo ^ears the }>0}mlatioii varied a>
folio u-.s :
1850 --2352.
lS5c5,— 20n.
18G0,— 1981.
1SG5 -1GS7. ■ :.,
1870,-1577:
1875—1981.
Doubtle.ss ill 1875 the census taker enrolled all the
men employed in working upon the railroad, which
would explain the increase.
Tiie Supervisors' Report of 1900 gives the exact num-
ber of acres in town as thirty-four thousand five hun^
dred eighty-five (34,585). The total valuation of real
estate is set down as 8728,815. Of course it will be
un-lrrstood that this is the assessed valuaticn, for pur-
poses of taxa!i(Mj. The actual value, or selling ])rice of
a farm or a house is often double the assessment. Per-
.^onal ]n-o])erty i,> given as 883,200. and this should be
multiplied at least by three to express actual condi-
tions. The census of 1900 shows a in;i,rked increase in
the vahu' of property over that of 1890.
PIK )I )rc'lTc )NS.
Our pr(->ductions are ina-jdy agrieulturah- hav, oats,
potatoes and applet, with milk. butt-T and wool. Nf>
iron has l)een mined or manufactured f(>v manv vears.
TainiI.e!' is sawed and shii'ped in moderate ([uantities.
<-lii«'tlv from the tiiilb ;it Wadhams.
^4 iiisrouY OF \\'i:sri'(,irr
There arc still some of Ihu (jiL-iint liotii.> iu.lustrics of
colonial times carried on among us to a small extent.
Some homespun woolen yarn is knit into lieavy socl<.s
and mittens, which are brought iut(^ the stores at Wad-
hams every fall. Warm ;.nd durable Ihey are, too,
every i)air worth three that nre factory W(,.ven. These
are mo.st often made by the older women, who were
taught the homely jtrt of knitting in their childhood.
The girls nowiida3snnike'a]attenbuigir" lace "throws,"
to hang on the corners of picture frames.
The weaving of rag carpets on a hand loom is still a
thriving industry, though the number of weavers is few.
The massive looms are veiy (juaint and interesting, and
the skill of the weaver is still that which was required
before tlie days of steam inveiition. Perhaps tliere are
a half dozen of these primitive Icjonis in town, none of
them built within sixty years, and sr.nio of them very
much older than that. I know of but three which are
now fitted for vv(jrk.
Of the extinct industries, the most unusual was the
liiaking of clay pipes. At Colk^ Cay, near the place of
the early llaymond settlement, lived an Kngllshmau bv
the name of James Smith, alw;iys distingiiislnnl bv the
tith; of ripe-nnd.er Smith. He ami his sons for years
i.nide the old-fashioned elay j.ipes, in a shop at one end
of the farm house. The ].ipe clay eame from New
Jersey, and the jupos were burned in a kiln attached t.j
the house. The Inirning was an operation retpiiring
much skill and ].a[ience. This was the onlv placci
i»ciwe,;n Albany ;u.al .Montr. -d when- elay pipc>, were
///sTo/.'v OF wKsrroirr lo
made. Tlie business was kept U]> until some time in
the eij^lities.
All the brick buililiij<.'s in town were made from brick
of our own manufacture, but none of them have been
built within thirty years. To-day no one builds of any-
thing but wood, and the bricks for foundations and
chimneys come in on the railroad. There were, at the
time of our <^reatest prosperity, a number of brick-yards
in town, and all agree that the material was of the best.
One unusual industry is that of gathering ginseng
root in the woods, to be sold at a bigli price and sent
to China. There is a little spruce gum gathered to be
sold every year. ]More ini])ortant than eitlier of these,
though small, is the trade in the skins of furbearing-
animals. Every spring several thousand pounds of
maple sugar are made.
'' 'gkoi.ogy.
l\>v the geology of West))ort I am entirely indebted
to a bulletin issued in 1805 by the Kew York State
Museum, called "The Geology of Moriali and Westport
Townships," by James Furman Kemp, in which it is
said that
"The geology of the eastern Adirondacks presents
niauy problems of interest. The townships along Lake
Champlain contain within their borders the contacts
of the labradorite rocks - Cgabbros, iiorites and anor-
tliosites) with the quartzose gneisses and crystalline
linit'stones ; and the later-formed unciinforn^abilities
of nil thr-sf uith the Totsdam sandstone of the ['[^pcr
ifi jiisTouY OF WKsrroirr
Cambrian. 1'he crystalline rocks of the Archean invito
study of botli igneous iiiid ruetarnorpliosed forins, while
along the old shore lino are the Cambro-Sihuian sedi-
ments, UDchnuged, not much disturbed and rich in
fossils."
This will not be especially ilhiininating to the aver-
ago un-geologic reader, but the language of this science
has "uuconforniabilities" wliich render it difficult to
translate. On page 332 we find this :
"The southern part of Wcstport is mainly gneiss, but
the northern is all auorthosite and gabbro. The anor-
thosites have an extended development in Split Rock
Mountain, and also appear in the southeast. The gab-
bro is espeeialh- important in the central portion. The
sedimentary rocks mark the southeastern lake shore.
The Potsdam, Calciferous, C'liazy and Trenton are all
well shown."
In the midter of tiup ilikes it seems that we are
somewhat deficient, though s>.veral "are exposed along
tlio lake shore a mile oi' l\so noi'tli of Westport, — and
others appear in the old iron mines oji the west side of
the Split Rock ri :ge. Rorpliyries, thi)' known in the
next t(.)WL!shij) noitii, iiavi- not l)etMi met."'
As it is (juite {>ONsil)K,' th.it some reader may be in-
terested in tile di-taiievl deseiiption o{ the "Iron Mines
of \\'est])ort/" 1 will copy it in full :
"There are at pie>ent no producing mines in West-
j)ort, and such as lia\t' Ik'. n op.'nrd have been idle for
nuLtiy years. J'^xcept i)eriia})s tliti secoiid bed at Nich-
ols Rcjuti, all that w,' viMti I 'A-iv eharh in th.' gabbro
iiiSToh'Y or \vi:sTPoirr n
series, aud {.T;;ive thus every reason to infer tluit they are
titaniferous, and such analyses as have been avuilabh-
have carried out this impression.
"The Nichols Poxd Mines,— These are situated hif,di
up on a mountainous ridpjo above Lake Champlaiu, and
just north' of Nichols Pond. There are two beds ; the
southerly one is in gueissic <:^abbro, and is about 9'
thick. It strikes nearly east and west, aud dips south
about SO-. Tlie ore is magnetite mixed with Jioru-
blende and is lean. The second bed lies more to tlu;
jiorth, and shows tlie follov.-ing section, with a strike
and dip .like the last. 1. Hanging wall gueiss. 2. Ore
r2'-15', sliot ore consisting of magnetite aud quartz. 3.
Lean ore not worth .se])arating 20', but of same general
character as 2. \. Compact feldspathic rock, 15'. 5.
lican shot ore aud quartz same character as 2, not
worked. G, Foot ^wall coarse gneiss. Tliere was a
large sejiarator in operation some twenty-live years ago
at Nichols Pond, and a tiamway ballasted with tailings
rutis down to the highway to the e.istward. These
udjies arc in lots IGG and IGS of the Iron Ore Tmct
and on Campbell Hill.
"The Lejh.k Hij.l Mines.— This name may not be the
most common or correct <uie, but it is tlie one given us
id AVestport. Tlie mines are near the sununit of a hill,
two milt's west of Westport, and are several hundred
feet above Lake Champlaiu. They are in gabbro of a
gueissic habit, but at times (juite massive at points not
fiu- from the ore.. There are two ore bodies. The ore
is riciu.'st in llie mithih- am! b-'comes lean towards the
in 111 STOUT OF WKsrroirr
walls;, \vitli a1>niul:int hornblende ;iurl garnets. In the
lowest. opening there are 4'-G' of richest ore. Fifty feet
liigber up there is another opening on the same ore.
The strike is east of north and the dip is high to the
west. A little to the east is a second ore body, opened
by a cut al)put G' feet wide at the bottom. The walls
are gabbro. Tiie mines are in lot 153 of the Iron Ore
Tract.
"The Split Hock Mines.— These are, opened in Split
Hock mountain, about one hundred feet above Lake
Champlaiu, and show very considerable excavations,
Avhich are practically dry, as tlie situation for mining
is very convenient. The ore is 10' thick, strikes X. 70-
80^ E. and dips 50 ^ south. Gabbro forms the walls
right np to the ore on both sides. It is the metamor-
phosed variety witli the copious reaction runs of gar-
nets. The wi'iter was told that there is another opening
\o the south. There is a se]"»arator on a level with the
lake, and above the mines, in a terrace in a break in
tile hills, are the old boarding houses. From this ter-
race there is a most superb view of the lake and the
Green Mountains. The mine is just across from Fort
Cassin."'
And tlui summing up of tiie whole matter is this :
"There seems little if any jaospect of j)rofitable mines
in Westport in the future. Those ores that are rea-
sonably nt-ar the laki- are certainly titaniferous, and
cannot be used unth-r the piesent calculation of blast
furnace -slags and mixtures. The non-titariiferous ores
jusTOKY OF ]vi:sTr<)}rr lu
wbieli liiay be in the westoni limits of the town are ex-
treniely inaccessible, if indeed in any quantity.'"
One of the Mineville ore beds, called the Cook iSliaft
Mine, -is crossed by the town line, so that its northern
openiiig, called Thompson's shaft, lies iu West[)ort,
l)ut thisimine is no longer worked. Its ore is valuable,
but not so clioajjly obtained <is that from the other
mines of Moriah. ^Vest of the school-h(_)Use at '■Seventy-
five," (called juore commonly "Fletcherville" in Mo-
riah,) is a body of ore known as the "Humljuj^ Mine,"
a title given it when the ore was })roved to be titaiiifer-
ous, and therefore valueless. My information in regard
to the mines at ''Seventy-five" has been obtained from
Mr. S. 13. McKee, so long Engineer of Withorbee, Sher-
man 1*1' Co.. at ]Miueville.
Our terms of hjcal geograpdiv contain constant al-
lusion to five or six hamlets which seem to a stranger
to be little more than a name. They are referred to bv
the titles given when they were scenes of far greater
activity than can often be tht; case now. There is
Braiuard's Forge, in the extreme north west corner,
on the Black river, just where Westport, ]'ii;^abeth-
town and Lewis join, and Avhere the teacher in the
school keeps the names of pn))ils on thrt-t; separate
pages of the register, accordir^g to the town in which
each one lives. In 1807 tliere was a forge here, l)uilt
on the Kli/.al)t.lhtown side of the river, which is
ff/STCj/n' or wKsrroirr
allnded to in the dd town records as 'OFor^^au's
New Forge," l)ut is t-,illi;-d ''Jjiaiuai'd's" iu 1817, aud
lias k(>|it that najne for noajdv a century. This was
the earliest and one of tiie l)est kriowu for;^-es of the
number built uj)on the DIack river between the bef^-iu-
niug of^tlie nineteenth century and the final decleiision
of the iron industry in Westport and Elizabethtown.
Now you find th;-re a ste;ini s.iw-nnll, a scJjool-house,
half a dozen farni-hoases, and the little river slippinn-
l>y untler the bridge', still darkened by the stain of iron
ere to the color \\hi(di !j;ave it its name from the first
settlers. It is dwindled to loss than half its volume
since those days, in conmion with everv other water
course in Mie country.
Then there is jl(-i-;sville, up the Black river to the
south-west, i)erha]>s thi-ee miles. Here is a school-
house, and a nunsln'r of hous(>s on Ijoti, .ides of the
river, si\ hun.ii.d f.^t above sim h'vel, and deep within
the mountains, witji the wild scenery of tht^ , great unin-
habit.-d Ir.Mi Ore 'J'ract to the' west and south. If v(m
should follow (!;e ro:,d turth.'r uj) the river, you would
tind on y a d.'sol.ite. almost uninhabited region foi-
mili'> and miles.
]-\'W and faint -aw the memories of ?kb;'igs. His name
was (iuy, and he owik 1 the mill an.l the hn-ge, and 1
know not wliiit b,>ide>. II,. w.nt away some thirtv
yeais ago, he and all his fauiiiv, in a l>i
'' emigrant
waijon iii-axsn
four horses, to a place indefinitely
given as "out w.;st.'" I tuid that in th.' historv of our
town, the p. r.pk ulio h;.\. iii..\r,_! .uvay mav almost
iiisTnuY OF \vi:srruirr ji
always be s;uJ to li;ive;^otie to oiu^ uf two plto's. Either
they went "(.)at west" or "over tht; hike." The tirst
means an enterprising seeking of new countries, the
second an unambitious return to the ohler civili/.atiou of
New Enp;hind, often expressed by the phmse, "went
back to his wife's folks." So much of the western
shore ofLake Chatuplain v/;is settled l>y emigrants from
New England that ii^oing k")aek "i>\*m- the Lake" was, in
the earlier days, something like going back to the old
country. Cut Guy Meigs disappeared toward the wild
west, %vhicli nio:iMs, of course, that ho left Westport
bearing due south, not turiung literally t>> the west
until he haj made his way past i\\i^. ramparts of the
Adiroudacks. I hare sometimes discovered that when
men are accounted for as having "gone west" anv time
befdre the last <"iuarter century, they h;ive, not uncom-
monly, gone no further than l>utrah). But as for Meigs
of Meigsvilh', 1 knov/ no mnw uf him than I have here
sot down. Doubtless his most enduring monument is
the mountain iiandet still callt^l by his name.'''
In the soutliv.>-st corner, where Westpm-t, Elizabeth-
town and Moiiah meet, is the lai-ger Sfttletnent of
"Sevtaity-five." This was name'! fi'om the surveyor's
numl)er for tin." lot in the Iron Ore Traet u[)on which it
w;is sui)poNed to stand. In geography and in [)olitics
"Seventy-five" is olijiged to belong to the town of West-
*N'0 rE.— There h.is been recently publiihei.1 ;i hir^e volume coniinin^ a i^en
•■ 'lofjicil record of the .\Icigs faitiiiv in Anicric.i. in whuh it upjjcirs that Guy
Mei<s of .Ntfidsviilc is of the same family ;i<; Gtnt-r.U .Meiijs of tht Civil War, »s
well as many ether notapJe people. The au:liorof the book is Captain Henry H.
il-itf-;, a brother of the la'.c (Juy .Mi;i>js.
--' JiisToin' or wrsrroirr
port, Ir.it ill fvrrv tliiiir; olso it is part aii.l pnrcel of
^[ori.-di, or, to speak more exactly, of Mineville. Hen-
is .sitnattnl the Cook Shaft No. '2, one of the system of
Moriah mine^, which have made such fortunes for their
owners. Here was once a great furnace, ofticos, stores,
and a vil]a<^t.- of more than tliirty houses, witli a laro'e
school-house. It remained a popuhuis place for some
time after the mines shut down. Those who were able,
went away as fas<^, as they found chauces to work in
other places, lea\ing a sediment of those who were too
poor to move. In 184(; we fought with our neighbors
for the possession of tlu^ soil. In 189G either one
might have had it foi' less tluin the asking, for that
winter the poorm.aster traveled wearily over the long,
hilly ro.ad, once a week, witli a great load of provisions
to keep some of the people there from starving. This was
our small share, as a town, in the problen^ of dealing
with the mass of unemploved poor which Moriah strug-
gU'd so bravely to solve in those dark years.
Near the j.lace where tlie town line crosses Mullein
I>rook is a saw-mill and school-house, and we always
s|)eak of the n.'iiihborhood as ''Stevenson's/' from the
name of the familv who h.ive long owned the mill. This
is also known as "Adirondack Sjjrings,"' and at one
time was called "Spfuct-r'.s." The oldest name, and one
seldom or n.'v.r h. aid n.w, was '"Fisher ^Fills," from
the name of th- tir-t sttth-r.
Wlure the railroad crosses the highway near the
lake sh<..re is a place wlu-re mail is left and
taken on for a shut tim.- during the sumimu-. called
HISTORY OP' \vi:sri'oirr 'j:i
,ift»n- the boardiug-house near by "Oak Point." Tlie
next railroad crossing tf) the uorth is spokeo of as
-Graeffes" or, more formally, the Wcstport Farms. The
latter title indicates more properly all the land between
the railroad and the lake, with the residence on the
lake road, and the numerous tenement houses and
barns.
In the uorthuast part of the town, not far from the
Essex line, on the Boquet river, lies "Merriam's Forge."
A passing stranger can see no reason for the name, as
even the rains of the old forge, built in 182o, were swept
away in the tjood of 1807. The dam in the river is still
left, kept in repair by the terms of the will of the
former owner, ^Ir. AVilliam P. Merriam, but the water
runs away unemployed and useless. There is something
pathetic in this one surviving token of the care and en-
ergy once lavished on the phice. The forge, with its
three fires, and tJie labor of the colony of operatives
for whom the row of houses were built, made its
founder and owner a rich man. Now his house by the
riverside stands empty most of the year, and the work-
men's houses are tilled witli an agricultural or a wan-
dering po{)ulation.
None of the forges on the IJlack and Boquet were
Kituated near iron mines. All the ore was brought in
wagons from the Moriah mines, or, in latter times, from
the ore beds at Nichols Poiul or Ledge Hill. If you
drive over the roads now you may form some idea of
the profits of a business which ]i!iid for sucii long and
laborious trans|iortatiou.
24 jiisTom' OF ]VKsTroirr
The name "Jacksonville" itulicates to us the mostim-
poitaut iron enterprise which Westport ever knew, in
the amount of money involved and the actual results.
Til' place was upon a beautiful point, across the bav
to the northeast of the village, now occujiied by the
houses of Mrs. Hall and of Mr. Robertson Marshall.
The natne is taken from that of Francis H. Jackson, of
Boston, 'ivho built the Sisco furnace herein ISiS.at a cost,
it is said, of one hundred thousand dollars. The massive
foundations of this furnace still remain, and much of
the stone of its walls has been useil in Mr. Mai-shall's
house. The house occujiied by Mrs. Hall vvas built
for ]Mr. Jackson's residence. The book-keeper's lumse
is still in use, but most of the workmen's houses havf
disappeared, or are used in other ways. The wharf is
still left, but the heavy bar^^^es, laden with coal an. I
iron, are now replaced in- the graceful litu>s of some
pleasure craft.
Very recently have been observeil in the local uews of
tlie county }i:![)ers substitutions for the old naujes of
our handets. Mei,!_,'sviUe is West \Vest[)ort, Steven-
sou's is South Westport, and Brainard's Forge is AVest
Wadhams. Perhaps this is an indication that the an-
cient names are passing aw.iy, ami that untilitv is l)e-
coming more to us than nn'incji-y.
sc'iK X )i. 1 )isTiuc"rs.
There are eleven school di^^tricts iu the town. The
most southern i^. at "Stevetsson's," near the saw mill on
Mullein brook. H-ti- yr.u cati turn oil the "back road."
HISTORY OF WKSrrORT 2.7
niul take the "Bald Peak road" to Minevillo, fikirtiug
the. base of the mountain, and with Mullein brook for
c-onipany half the way. Tlieu there is the school house
at "Graeft'e.s," alias the Westport Farms, This is the
ilistrict that was spoken of for many years as "Root's"
because Mr. Samuel Root lived here. The school-
house stands (»u a hill overlooking Coil's bay, with a
boautiful view of the lake and of tlic Yerniont mount-
iiins. North of this, on the lake road, stands what
must be the oldest school building in town, — the "stone
fichool-house." It is built of the limestone of the
neighborhood, with Aviadows let in directly under the
eaves, so that no one can look out of them without
standing up, and little folks not at all unless they climb
upon the desks. Consequently, you will usually find the
door open in summer, and can look in sociably as you
]^;iss.
At tlie point where the cross road aud the back road
aud the raiivuad meet is the Howard school house.
Here come the children "otT the mountain," two and
three miles sometimes. This school house, as well as
the one at Stevenson's, sees a regular Sunday gather-
ing for religious services. Hero the meeting of adults
on that day is larger than that of the children during
the week.
Tlu're is a large school house at Seventy-five, which
had until very recently a full attendance, but is now
closed. At Meigsville the school house stands on the
Elizabethtown side of the river, and this is also the
tvjse ;it Braijinrd's Foru;e. You will rind one at Hois-
•2(j lusTonv OF WESTFuirr
ington's, accommoclfitiug oliildreii fioiu four roails, uu.)
about half way to Elizabftthtown ou the turnpike is the
one most likely to be noticed bv a Htrau<^ei. This is
because it stands half hidden by an immonso boulder,
almost as liij^di and half as large as the building. This
used to be called "the red school-house," but since it
was rebuilt with a dilierent e^'e for color we make sure
of being understoi)d by saying "the one by the big rock."
At Wailliam's Mills is a large brick school-house, ouo
of the oldest in town, often repaired, which the people
still make use of, patiently waiting some turn of events
which shall bring them a new one. Ou the road to Whal-
lonsburgh, just over the hill which rises south of the riv-
er, is the Ptoyee district, now oftener referred to as the
Sherman district. On the lake road to Whallousburgh,
where the road divides, the oast branch ruuniug direct
to Essex villagJ}, stands the "Angier Hill school-house."
The Angiers are long since gone, but here, I am hai)py
to say, the old name still hohls in spite of all new com-
ers. Angier Hill itstlf y.-u will tiud a half mile further
north. Standing at its t<>]), you look off over the level
land of the river bottoiii \\\. Essex, aud the earth drops
away fro'u before you snddenly in a terrace. This is
"Angier Hill," once a syncuiyin for st(my steepness, but
much uioilitiod by years of patitMit gradiu.--.
The School Ikjusc in thn village was built in 18S9,
after such a prolonged and heated "school-house war"
as is often seen when there are two parties of opposing
ojiiniuns, (udy on»> of which can possibly have its way.
It is hard to l.i.lb'v- that any spot could have been bet^
llISTOliY OF U'ESTI'Oh'T 27
tt-r tliaii tlie oiio cliosou, on tlio fiat near the shore oi
the liay. wlieit'. the Imiklitifi; shows so tiiiely in the first
\ i.'u- oi the villa^'e from the hike.
All these school-houses are to a certain extent social
centres, particularly in the remote districts. Here are
not only the school exhibitions but the Sunday-schools
:uul the mid-week prayer meeting often held, as well as
tilt' annual '.'school-meetings" for the electiori of trus-
tees and ofticers <if the district.
ci:MP7ri:RiKS.
\
Theeeuieteiies of a town are alwaj-s interesting places
to any one who cares for its history. There you find a
<lireetory of the }»dst, with blanks iu place of the names
of those who died among other scenes, or who left no
one behiudth^m wlitJ cared to raise afttone to their mem-
ory. Here djitcs' are copious and authentic, and it
si-vnis a relief to walk these silent aisles after much ex-
pcrif'iu>e with the uncertainty and contradiction of local
legendary history. Not that long exploration of the le-
gends will not add to the interest of loitering iu these
<>ld grav-eyards. One of the most delightful of summer
afternoons can l>e s[>eut in wandering thro' iho village
<'«Miietery in c<.mpany with the Oldest Inhabitant, and
and listi-ning to stor^ after story suggested l>y thu
JiMiiies on the tombstone.
The largest cemetery in town is the one in Westport
village, on the north bank of the brook, on Pleasant St.
It njust be almost as old as the village itself, but the
•js ■ iiisroiiy Oh- WKsri'otrr
earliest tlate of burial liore cnf iu :>toiie is in the ye;ir
1808.
Here are buried jn;u>y oi the men coiisiiicuous iu
our history. Here lies "oM Stjuire Hatch," as we
commonly tall him, "Hon. Charles Hateh," it reads,
here,— witli a monumeut whii-h was altop;ether the
most imposiug one in the cemetery whenit was erected,
though somewhat overshadowed since.
There is scarcely an old name which is met with in our
anuals that cannot be found here, and of course one
cannot attempt to name tlieiu ;dl. Most -of the earlier
•^ravts are found i)i the t^astern end. Here is the
shaft ])ut up for ]jarualias ^lyrick, who seems to
have been the grevit man of the villaj^e after the days
of Squire Hatch. XiMr it is the grave of General
Daniel Wrjght, who C(-)mmand..'d all the militia forces
of Essex and Clinton counties iu the War of 181'2, with
the title of J'Srigadier-Oeneral. Fiis tombstone relates
none .-f his deeds or distim-tions, and his wife, whose
name was Patit^jce. might be fancied to have need ( f that
virtue in putting up with th«' fai.'t that she has no stone
of her own, but is gi\t'U a fmv lower lines on that of
her iuisliaud. Perhaps it is going \^^o far to inuigim^
any one criticising one's own cpitapli, or the manner in
which it is t'iid)l.iZiuied to the world, butithas an odd
eti'ect of making h.-r nauie >fuui appropria.te. It was a
very common cust in in tin is-* days.
Across the grav,-l,-d path are tlu' H.ilombs. Doctor
Diadorus HolccMub was a very early settler, i\ni\ the
tlrst one who pra.-tic-d t!w healing art. He acted as ;i
Ill STORY or wKsrronr -jft
Mir.^eon fit the ]jattle of Pbittsltnrj^li. Not far a^\-xiy
ar-' th' j^ravos of the Cnttii)i^s, conspicuous in tlie vil-
l.ij^'f life a little later. Those are some ot the oldest
names, most of them on quaint, old-fashioned slabs,
sMtuetinips with the conventional weeping willow cut at
the to}x There are many handsome monuments of re-
cent (l;ite, like those with the names of Page, Sargent
:iiid Newelh
One of the most interesting graves in the cemetery is
that of Col. Francis L. Lee, Colonel of the 44th Massa-
<-liusetts Volunteers. A shaft of stone in its native
l"/auty, uncut and unpolished, taken from his own es-
tate ;tt Stony Sides, marks the spot. A tablet of slate
is h't in on one side, with name and date. A massive
hoidder from North Shore is laid at the grave of Mr.
^^ illiani Guy Hunter, in which are deeply cut his name
••iml that of jiis wife.
'Jdi.M-e is the giave of Joseph Call, the giant, of whose
hats (,f strength so many tales are told. Ebenezer
]>urfee has written on his tombstone that he was a
Revolutionary soldier, the only stone so marke '.
\\oul(] that more old soldiers had left it cut in stone,
>n that we might know and honor them all.
A noticeable thing is tiie number of stones on which
it is recorded that the sUent sleeper beneath mot his
<h'!ith by drowning. In former times such an interest-
ing tact as this could not fail to be engraved u])ou the
I'.ndistone, witii the appropriate nioral reflection thrown
III. Of late we are grown nu>i'.- rcNerved, or more in-
<lifh-)ent, and in the jifWi-r part <'f tiie cemetery the
•w tiisroin' or w Ksiroirr-
stones glow lari^^er and {\w iiis(n-i|»tir>iis smulU'r, ■m\\
there is no lonj:];ov jun- literatiiieof tliBilead, but uiovelv
a cataloj2;ne. For iny part, I like the old wav l>pst. It
used to 1)0 an art to write an epitaph, an<1 to en^^rave it
properly, an.] then it was sotaethinj^ worth while for
one to read, walking- in the eenieteiy of a Snndav
afternoon.
This is the Protestant renietery. That of the Iv oman
(•atholic churoh lies not far wt.st of it, behind tiie pret-.
ty church, and is full of interest. There is auother
graveyard in tlie villa.-^e, lu.t it is only the (ild peoi.le.
who can tell yoa niiieh al)'>nt it, as it has l)een lon<^ nn~
used. It is spoken of as the '-South bnryinj^ ground."
It lies just northeast of the old Arsenal, and back ol
Mrs. Gregory's house, on land now owned b\- the West-
))ort Inn. It is a negleeted cm-iier, overj4rown witli
briars and l)njdoi.-ks in tlie late snninier. Here lie
Tiliinghast Cole, and some of the Haveuses and
Keyuoldsesand a nunii)e'r ofgravt^s unmarked bv stones.
These unmarked graves are always fouml in the old-.
est cemeteries, often ontnundif-ring thost; whose names
liave b ..'en preseived.
At AVadljau)s Falls there is a vrry ])rettv een)eterv,
on the high river bank, aeio.s.s th..> road from the M. K,
church. Hero are the o! 1 lianifs .tf this section,, Felt,
and Brauian ami Whitney, Hardy and Dunster and
Brown and Shernian. Woodrut!" and Favn^- and manv
more. The earli'st cem.'trry at Wadhanis was on the
tiat lower down the riv.-r, but was soon al)andoned,and
no stones were l.'ft t • m.trk fh-- >^»ot, I'lu; Wadhanis
11 J STORY OF WEST r OUT 3 J
family were buried in a private ground back of Com.
A. V. Wadhains' residence, but were removed aud
]>laced iu the lar^^e cemeter}' within a few years.
All our cemeteries are in spots of natural beauty.
At Merriam's Forp;e is a small private ground, where
all the Merriauis lie buried. It is not far from the
former residence of William P. Merriam, across the
road, and on much higher ground, with a fine view of
tlie river.
On the road to Elixabethtown, near the Block river,
is what the old people call "the Newcorab burying
ground." This has received the remains of all the old
families of this region.
As old as any of them all must bo the graveyard at
Hoisingtou's. The earliest date is 1805, at the grave
of Datus, sou of Euos aud Anna Loveland. What a
dear, romantic bit it. is, this little square fenced in
among the mountains ! Here you get no water view at
all, only the dark mountains with their folded valleys,
])ressing close around. This lies on the highest ground
of any of our resting places for the dead, as here it is
six hundred feet above sea leyel, with mountains tower-
ing far above it. There are very few family names
represented, mainly Lovelauds, Nichols and Sloughters.
On the lake road to Port Henry is a small private
cemetery on the land of Hinkley Coll, where all the
name.s are Coll by birth or marriage.
Without doubt the most ancient burial place in
town is on the wooded point v.diich runs out north of
the mouth (f ivavnio]id bjook, clo.so to the island.
••'-' iiJsroiiY OF WESTPonr
Very near this spot was tlie first settlement of whito
men on our soil. The oldest ("late of burial to be read
is that of Levi Alexander, 181 G, but we know that
many j^'raves here must be older than that. There arei
not half a dozen atones now standing in the little enclos-
ure, but all around are signs of a lar;^'e cemetery. Many
of the graves v>'ere marked ouly witli that most pathetic
thing iii old graveyarils,~rough, uuout, unshaped and
unmarked stones, selected from hillside or door yard or
any where they could be found. They were set up
carefully at the head and the foot of the grave, many
of them marking ouly a baby's length between them,
and for the lifetime of one generation we may be sure
that these graves were not nameless as they now must
be to us. These rou'^h stones are found in all our old
cemeteries, and indicate a time when the stone cutter
had not yet reached the place, and cut marble must be
brought long distances. Indeed, many of the stones
with the oldest dates were set up years after the body
lu'neath was laid to rest.
We have a right to claim the cemetHi-y just over the
line in Moriah, as it belonged to Westport until after
the first generatiou of settlers must have been buried.
HISTORY OF WESrroRT 33
HO AIDS.
To attempt a descriptiou of all the roads of a town-
ship would be very tedious. Only a study of the map
can give an adequate idea of them. To a person com'
ing from one of the southern counties of New York,
where highways and railroads are constantly crossing
in a network, and there is never one house built out of
sight of another, our town looks like a mere wilderness,
threaded here and there with a slender, solitary, trail,
often without human habitation to pass for long dis-
tances. To the same person, coming direct from any
of the "back towns" of the county, uam?ly, North Hud-
son,-or Keeno, or North Elba, where an immense town-
ship sometimes is traversed by a single road, with one
or two branches, Westport seems thickly settled, and
very comfortably supplied with roads. The highways,
of course, as in every place, indicate perfectly the needs
of the population by their direction and extent, and
their resources and enterprise by their condition.
Taking the village of Westport as a center, the main
roads running from itare those to Whallonsburgh, Wad-
hams ^ills, Elizabethtown and Port Henry. Going to
the first place, you may take the river road or the lake
road. The river road goes norch until it comes to the
bank of the Boquet, then follows it closely, after cross-
ing it near the town line, into the township of Essex.
The lake road takes you northeast, over many hills,
with beautiful views of lake and mountains. At the
top of Angiev Hill you look down upon the valley of
:i4 ^ I/JSTOJn' OF WE ST FORI
the Bocjnet. At wliat is callod "the forest ji^ato," after
yon pass through tho wonaerful gateway in the rocks,
of such interest to geologists, a private road leads
somr; two miles to Hunter's Bny, Partridge Harbor and
Rock Harbor.
Tlie road to Wadhams Mills, runs to the north-
west, crossing the railroad and the river. Here are
tlie beautifid falls and the busy mills. If you are very
lucky you may find the river full of logs, and a gang
of picturesque "loggers" with red shirts, higli rubber
boots and pike pedes, trying to break a log jam. The river
road will take you t(^ Mount Discovery and to Lewis.
Thence, if you are so min.lod, you go northward to the
place which we call the "Poke o' Moonshine." A road
to the west goes to Brainard's Forge, and there are
many cross road.s, -11 this region of rolling farms, con-
necting the nmin roads.
li you wish to go. to the county seat you must go to the
station and then along the oidy turnpike in the county.
This is the stage route for the mountains, and altogeth-
er the most constantly travelled road iu town. You
must stop at the ti)ll-gato and pay toll, which you will
not begruilge when you- see that your money goes to
ke^p the road both smooth aiul wide. Beautiful
mountain viows you will tind, and when you come to
the Black river and cross tho bridge, then you have left
Westport and are in Elizabeth town.
To go to Piu-t Henry you may take either tho "back
road" or tiie lak«^ mad. The iir.-,t follows the railroad
nio.>t of the way, and riu;-^ n.'t f. -a- from the high bank
iiisToin' OF wEsrroiiT .vo
xvliicli imliciites the last slope of the moani.iins of tlie
Iron Ore Tract, iu their nearest approach to the shore
of the lake. The lake road, (called a part of the wa}'
the "middle road,") runs parallel with the back roa<l,
and joins it just heyoud the town line, so that yon are
obliged, in any case, if it is your will to go to Port
Henry, to cross Mullein Brook and climb "Bigelow
hill" beyond, This brook was undoubtedly named
after a person, but at the present day the hill just south
of the bridge is so covered with the withered, woolly
green of the uiiesteemed mullein that one feels that' the
reason of the name might uot be far to seek. About
two miles from Port Henr}- you will pass through
"the Cheever," meaning the ruins of the mining village
which spraug up so suddenly iu the prosperity of the
great Cheever ore bed, and fell into ruins so deliber-
ately when fortune frowned upon the God of Iron.
You are in what was once Westport territory until
within two miles of Port Henry, although it has be-
longed to Moriah for fifty years. IT'SSO^IS
From Holt's brook to the Ra^'moud brook we call
this the "middle" or the "state road," because there is
a "lake road" farther to the east. Aud a pleasant road
it is, looking olY over the tops of "the Cedars" to the lake
and the Vermont shore. There is a lane leading down
to the NYormau place at Young's bay, and another,
much travelled, to the light-house and the ferry at Bar-
ber's point. A favorite short drive from the village is
to take this road around to the island, and then come
back bv the middle r(jad, or bv the cross roud whicii
.-.v; . ' // fS TO /! r OF 1 1 'A'.S' 77 ' 0 /: T
cats tlivougli the We.--t[)ort Fjinus, and back past the
gulf links.
Other rijads less travelled have often quite as much
interest. B}' turning off the turnpike near the station
von can <^o up t]io Letl^e Hill rc^ad. After you have
crossed the brook you will never wonder at the mean-
ini;- (if the nann\ When you cotno to the twin fish
ponds ai Holsington's you may take your choice of go-
ing on to 3Ieigsville, and perhaps away off across the
lUack river to "the Kingdom," (peopled now only by
ghosts of the old Days of Iron,) or you may turn and
go south bt'tween tlie mountains until you con:ie to the
•Spring which supplies th,e village of Westport with wa-
ter. If you eiioose this road, the first little bridge vou
cross is called, in local talk, "tea-kettle bridge." The
name is tlie most valuable part of thelegend,asthe neigh-
bors can (»nly i<A\ you that (^nco, when they mended the
bridge they found a new tea-kettle carefully hidden un-
der it, whose owner tlu^s never discovered.
On this road stood, m^t many years ago, a chare ->al
kiln, the last, poihaps, of the large number which might
bf fmmd all <»vor the town fifty yeai-s ago, when there was
so much more \voo<l .to burn. It was not far from
"tlie old tram ro.ul." which l^ads to Nichols Pond, two
miles ^\e^^t of the highv.ay. This pond ks a favorite re-
sort of liuntLrs and campers, and you can hardly pass
this way i)i the hunting srasDU without seeing a hunter
V ith gun and basket, m iking for iln- j)(~)nd. It lies four-
teen iiundicd fr<( above s<-a-h-vt-l, and there is a camp
fUSTORY OF WKSTPOirr 37
.lU an islaud. Another trail to the poml loads in
from the south.
When you couie to tlic turn at the okl Stacy place,
ii.Uas the Greeley place, now owned by Mr. Lee, you
may go back to tlie village, or turn up the hill and take
the mountain I'oad to "Seventv-fivo." This ruad reach-
es the highest altitude of any road in town. After you
have passed the "John Smith place," where you «'et
such a charming glimpse of the lake through the trees,
looking down over Bessboro, and have climbed the
hills along the musical tumbling brook, and passed the
solitary farm-house of Levi Mojre, you come to the
summit of the road, fifteen hundred" feet above tide.
After this there is a descent until you reach the de-
serted village of "Seventy-five."'
Surely a more desolate place cannot be imagined
than this ruinc'd mining settlement, lying high up Lthe
mountains, wijere the soil is thin aud poor, and where
the trees have, been cut ofi' for miles around, burned to
feed the great furnace which is now but a heap (;f
shapeless ruiiL Time has veiled tl^e naked hillsides
with the thick, slender "second-growth" timber, but the
village houses still stand unshielded upon the bare
slopes. Most of the houses were well-built, large and
comfortable, and it will take a long time for the°chim-
neys to fall and the roof-trees to sink. All the popula-
tion here ha I to be fed by the farming country of tin.
Champlaiu littoral, and farmers as far away as Lewis
and Essex -drew hay and other farm produce over the
•vs- IffSTOhT OF WF.STrORT
inr.untaius to Sovouty-fivo, receiving higli prices aud a
share in the general ])rosj)evity.
This is the most direct road to the villages of Mine-
ville and ^loriah. If you choose you may return to
Westport by keeping on aroiuul Bartlett pond, (in Mo-
riah,) which lies so still aud dark, surrounded by the
still, dark mountains, and taking the Bald Peak road,
through mountain valleys, following Mullein brook to
the school house at Stevenson's, then the "back road"
to North-west Bay.
The shortest way from the village to the Mountain
Spring is to go up the hill past the golf links, cross the
railroad and take the turn at Hush Howard's. This
brings you to a bit of new road not shown ou the map,
because it was made after the map was engraved, which
exchanges a stony hill for an easy grade through the
jneadows for a mile, on the land of the Mountain
S|)ring Conipauy. •
As for the smoothness of these roads — well, vou v.-ill
not find them {ilaned and sand-papered. It is evident
that in towns!d|> the elevation of whose surface varies
froiii the level of the lake to eighteen hundred feet
al)ove it, the loads cannot be expected to maintain a
dreary momttony. 1 am rt-minded of a story. Driviuo-
<.ver a uiountain road fnuii lloisington's to C4reeley's,
XNith a frit-nd returned fjom South Dakota, we came to
"tea-kettle britlge," with the little clear, brown stream
].ouring aii.l gurgling under it. "Oh, stop the horse a
mom» lit." >aid sii.i. ";uid let me hear the water run."
'J"hf n.uddy >!uii._:h> ..f I,)akot. do m.t look nor sound
niSTORy OF WESTPORT SO
like that!" Aud thcu she told me the story of au Essex
county boy who took his degree at a medical collep;e and
went west to practice iu a prairie state. For years he
drove over level roads, with a level horizon around him.
One (.lay he was called to go a long distance to a place
he had never seen. On Jiis way he saw, in a field l>y
the side of the road, the first rock that had met his eyes
sint e he entered the state. He left the road, drove un-
til he came to the rock, aud then deliberately guided
the horse so that two wheels of his buggy went directly
over it. He made a turn, came back, and sent the
other wheels over the rock, enjoying the bounce aud
jolt. Then he made his way back to the main road,
went home and told his wife. "Oh, it felt good," said
he, "It felt like Essex county once more!" And no
one will deny that that is the way Essex county feels,
when you are driviug, and Westport is no exception.
Nevertheless, our roads are bettor than those of many
other towns, and especially in the fall, when our clay
packs into a hard smooth surf;ice, only made smoother
by every passing wheel. It is the spring mud, after
heavy raius and thaws that make our roads a terror
aud a penance. Our system of workiug roads is ex-
ceedingly deficient, resulting in a marked line of divis-
ion, in some cases, between a one road-district with a
business-like "path-master" aud high taxes, and another
district with a path-master ignorant or unwilling, or
with taxes too low to do half the work.
One characteristic feature of our road-sides is the
stump fence. This is made of piue roots from the
4(^ . HISTORV OF WKSTPORT
forest primeval, left after the trees were cut down, and
dug out of the earth to leave the laud clear for the
planting of crops. We have an inveutiou called a
"stnmp-raachiDe," made for pulling the stumps out of
the ground. Then they are set uj) in rows along the
b()rders of our fields, ^vith the wide-spreading "-oots
joining in an abattis which makes an escellenr fence.
We have very little of the zig-zag rail fence left, and
stone walls are not so common as in the southern part
of the state, but a gray, mossy, old stump fence, whose
gnarled and twisted outlines take fantastic shapes, fes-
tooned with the woodbine and the wild grape, is' pic-
turesque indeed.
There is a folding road map of Westport, with mile
circles, easily obtainable, ami also a larger wall map.
The map of the United States Geological Survey, on
the scale of nearly one mile to one inch, shows every
road perfectly, to the least turuiu^r, and also indicates
with contour lines the elevation of every point. Be-
cause of the perfection of these maps, and their acces-
sibility, no cfl'ort has been made to provide this book
with a large and complete map. The small one in the
front of the book will give a quite sufficient idea of the
town and its viciuity.
iiisronY or WKsri'iiur 41
Westi)orl'.s ouo sapvejue claim to couskleration i.-, in
tlie beaut}' of her uatural foatuit_-s. MouutaiiiR aij(.l
lake to^'ether give this bit of earth a chann which is
never uiifelt or deuied. The natives, born upcMi tht-
soil, always the last to analyze the inlluence of nature
upon tlioniselves, arc. In' no means the last to feel it,
}]ow we pit}' the people condemned to live jn a fiat
country, and what a keen edge ha» the regret of the
e\\\e. who leaves us t<> live upon the pr;iiries of the
^^'est ! l')Ut v/e would not have it all mountains. "Keene
Valley V" we say. "We could not live shut in like that,
only al)le to look up, and not out. We never take fj
free breath until v.-e get back wliere we can look off
upon the lake." That is what gives us the sense of
freedot;i ajid distance, and I think we love it best of all.
K^M/I^S AN J > ] UiOOKS.
Our largest river is tiie Bof^piet, Tijis beaul.ijui
mountain stream has its ultimate s[!rings high iunong
llie peaks of Keene and North Hudson, and follows a
jM'rtliea.'^terly course tlir(Migli the "I'leasant Valley" of
i:"dizalK:t!)t'iwn, and into the, tou-nships of Lewis and
.l'Iss( X. Theii it JK-uds suddenly to (In- south, and makes
:\ \(io\) of tive or six miles to enter Westport. Here it
<-on!<-s within three u;ilr.s of the lake, and perhaps in
-some pre-historic agi; it flowed iut(! N((rtluvt'st ]3ay, hut
iiow the Split Hock range pushes its foothills t(» tlu-
--south and bars fbe w.mv. Tii'^ New York and C'an;i<h!
-/- , iiisTiiRY <iF \vi:srr()irr
vailr.j.ul, iti {.i.-^siu^ over tl-is .livido between tl;-:
Scln-oon rauo-o and the valley of the Boi|iiet, makes tl»
lieaviest f^jnule between Albany an.] Montreal. This is
t!ierta>..n whyaloa.led fr,'i^4it train is so often"stalh'.l""
near Viall's crossing. Aftrr leavin-- Westport, the river
flows thron.gh Ess-x aiid W'illsboro into Lake Cha:n-
plani. Some of irs most remote sprinj^s mast i-)e nearlv
thr./.' (l.ou.^aml frrt above sea level. At Elizabethtown,
it is but a. Httl.^ le<s than six hnn-lred feet hi,<;-h, and at
its moutli it is of course of the san^e level as Lake
Champlain,one Imndred and one feet above tide. Such
a descent as this proves it to be a clear, swift running
river, with manv falls. Th.' most considerable of these is
at Wadhams Mills, and -av.jthat })Iace its early nam--,
still often used, of -'The F.dls."
Within our bnrdt-rs, the J]o(]iiet tlows for the greater
])art through a tine faruiing country, cleared and culti-
vated, e\ce])t wh.-re it is crowd'.'d hy the rockv bas^^ .•)f
Coon mountain. It is eross.-d Ijy the ijiilroad, which
follows closely along its northern l)ank for several miles.
The river is used extensively for logging. Logs are
<-ut by gangs of liimberm-m in the forests of Elizabeth-
town and Lewis, and tloat.-d down in time of high water
to the mdls at A\'adha(nv. or Whallonsburgh or Wills-
boro. All thi> log.uing busin. -ss is very interesting and
picturesipie, an 1 ou^ may pick \\\\ nniny a <|uaint bit of
experionre out of it. \u (.Id farm.M- who had watche !
til.' river many y;u-s told me one day that he could
t.dl at a glance wln-th-'r the rive-r was rising or falling.
If t];e logs are :dl in th.' tuiddU' of the river it is falling.
nisTt)j!Y OF WEsrroirr aa
If thoy are lloatinp; ;iloij;j; upou caoli side next tlif l.'aiik>
tht' river is rising. Whc-u tho wwU-v is rismj^ it is liigh-
.,->t in the middle, and the lou;s take- the htwm' level next
the hauk. When it is falling if is the lowest iu inid-
>trean], aud (here the logs collect.
There are two dams iu tin; river within We^tjuirt, cau^
id Wadlianis and one at Merriatn's Forge. The high-
way crosses it I'ut t\\"iee. onee at each of the two places
jn^t nientioiied.
The uatue of the river is coiuniouly a. stuiubling-
lih)ck to strangers, iu the matter of its ])ronuuciatiou.
A true ualive never calls it l)oo-kay, but always bo-
k\\et. As it is evideutly a Freucii liame, the strauger
i- likely to set this prouuciatiou down as a result of
er.iss iguttrauce. On the contrary, it is a most inter-
<->tiug linguistic proof ftf the real origin of the name.
That sound of final "t" has snrvi\ed for one huuilred
;iud seventy years, aud, like most survivals, has an ^\-
(^w^-i: for being. ^'
The Boqunt river was named by tlii.- Freneh before
ITol, as is conclusively shown by mai>s of that date.
This [loiut has betai thoroughly investigated b\- Mr.
Henry Harmon Xobh-, who ha^ ha<l every ojjportunity
to examine the documents bt-aring upon the subject in
the State Historian'.s otlice. In a letter written to the
author he says :
'T find in New York Colonial ^ISS., Volume XCVl 11 ,
[•age ^-i:, '(.'arte du Tne C'hamiilain, dupuis le fort Cliam-
bly ju.s(|uau fort St. Frederic. Levee par le Sieui
Anger, arpeuteur du Fioy en VC-Vl. fait a (,);ud.ee le K'
-/-/
iirsTOin' OF WKsrroRT
Octobve 174S, siL^no d.^ Levy.' That is to say, a i;i:ij>
.)f Lake Ohamplaiii t'r<->iii Fort Oliambly to Fort St.
Irevleiio, survt'vcil by ^h'. An;j;or, Surveyor to the Kin;^
ill 1782, m:i.(h^ at (;>uol)o.> October 10th, 1748. On this
map the river is put i|ov. ii as 'li. Boquette,' >;ho\viii;^'
that it was called by that uanif^ as early us 173-2.
"Also m r)(KMii!jeiits Relating to the Colonial History
of the St;ite of New York, \ohiniii 0, opjiosite ■l)a.L:o
1022, is a map, a eo{)y of which was procured in Paris
in IS 12 by John Uonnn-n Brodhead. On this map,
<late 1731, 'Carre du lar Chainplaiu avec le.s Piivieres
du[)uis l.i fort 'le Cliam1>ly d.ius la Nouvelle France,
jiisipies a Oran^eviUe de le Xonvelle An^leterre, dresse
sin- .livers lueinoirs,'— it is called I{. BaiK^inf/e. The 'a'
is quit<3 plain."
In a very interestinLj article n[)ou the naming of the
Ansable river, in the ]:s-„.x (',),n,ty Republican, in Oc^
toh.a- of ISOl, },\i: Fi,-deri(dv II. Cnnstock, a. well-know!)
autln^rity on th.- history an.l nonie-nclature of this re-
i^iun, sp.riks .,[ lioth tic- ni ^.s nvMjtioiied by Mr. Xoble,
and says :
-The French b.'in;^' e-^tablisht^d s<-) near the lake soon
familiari/.ed theiuselves witji it, and o-ave names to
proniiii'Mit natural features of its shores — Uodie fendre
.Split Loek), Carillon ( Ticonderoira^, J^le La :Motte.
Sor.d. Cha/.v, St. Arniant. iexju-t, Valcour, Grand Isle,
etc.. many of which remain even to this day." And he
calls special att»-ntion to the fact that the rivers were
named fi'-^m t!i'-ir mouths.
JnsroRY OF WKsrruin' ■/.-,
So it i> j)him" that the Frciieh Lad i^ivt-ii ouv river it>
i.;iint' before tiie^- l)uilt the fir.st fortitications ui^on the
lakf, at Crowij Point, in ITol. A^ for the lueuiiiu-- of
the name, it seem^ [.robahh' that it whs derived from
tlio word "l.oquet," that is "a trough," from the forma-
tion of the river banks uear its njouth. The Frt,-ueh
nanjed tlie \\\ Sable river, that is, the Sandy river,
from the long poiiit of sand at its month, and remarked
tliat it was so choked with saiid at its entrance into the
hdve that it was impossible for boats to enter it at all
exct'pt in time of high water. After passing this river
mouth, their eyes were quick to notice tliat the next
one to which they came, on their southward way, was
of a very difl'ereut cliaiacter, liowing deep and full iut<«
tlie lake through steep banks. There was no obstruc-
ti!*n to the entrance of boats of large size, and their
I'assage was clear almost to the foot of the falls. It
viij be remombererl that Burgoyne encamped here ii:
1777 because the i^ver afforded a shelter for his boats.
v-ud in 181-2 it was entered by British gun-boats. So
the; French voyag-eurs described it as the "river which
is like a trough at its mouth," -Baqnet, or Banquette,
afterward v/ritten Bucpiette or Boquet.
It is sometimes asserted that our I'iver was named
after Colonel Henry Bouqut-t, a British oilicer during
thr French and Indian War. This is not possible,
>!nce Colonel BcMUjuet nt-ver saw America until 1750.
tv.enty-five years after the river was named. Turninu
to the .second volume of ".Miuitcalm and Wolfe," b\
1 lancis Parkman, wt- ma\- lead :
•f'! f!!ST<)i:y (,r w !:sri'(>irr
"Tl)t> 11 )y;il AuH}ric;ui re^giuicut \s;is ;i iiew orps
rui.se.l, in tlu^ colouios, l,ir;^^,-]y iVotn uoion;^' tht- Genn.-iDs
of.Peunsylv:iMi:i. Jfs ollircrs w.n'e from Enn)])e ; an.]
.•onspicu.Misaimui-ith.^in \v,-i,sLi<>nttMiant-C«)l(Mi.>l Henry
J>.>uqil.'t, wlio roiuiiKuulH.l Olio of tlio four l.attaliuiis
of -vvhieh tlie re.^iiiKMit was eouipos.-d."
The o-alhint Coloiml, afturwar.l mailo a General by ^i
t^rateful sov,avi-u, (hstii.^uisho.l liiiusolf in las opera-
tions against the Indians of l\MHisyIvania and Ohio,
l.utat no p,M'i..l was he in servi.-e upon Liko Chatn-
phiin. His own h'tters and journals, and t!ie records
of liis camiiaio-iis, p.rov, this. There were parts of th-
rej^iuient of 1^ oval Americans with Ahercromliie in his
attempt upon Tieondero-a, and with W.dte at Quebec,
i.nit not iiompiefs battalion in either case.
The name of Bou.piet was a famous one in the colon,
i^^s at the time ..f the -..Id Frei,(di war" and immedi-
at.dy after it. How famous it was we can hanlly real-
ize since the :'h.volution has li-ht-d so many ^reat-r
li-Iits. It would hav... been in no way stran-e that any
unnamed river s!iould be named afl.r him, an 1 I have
J)o d<mbt that at this time a miseonc.}[)tion of the facts
arose. The -reat majority of tlie Kngl-.sh had never
seen tlie .)ii-inal Freueh maps, and were (|uite irruorant
of the early history of i!.e lake. What more natural
than for t!iem to >uppos.; tliat the name "JJa.piet" nv
'■l'>o,|uette" r.-fmed tot]ieir.)wn admired General? In
this way it may be admitt^^d that the river was, in a
certain >en^e. r-l.apti/.. 1 aft-r ( baanal Henry J5ou.p,et,
JUS TO in' OF WESTj'ojrj- -/r
;i!itl SO tho newe)- si^ellin^' au<l prouuLciatioji ini-lit li-
allowed. But youi- true native \vill always souuJ that
t'.nal '"t" and thus bear uituess, oftcu unconsciously, of
that l.oyalty to the Oldest which mahes so large a part
K'i the liistorical sense.
The river next largest in size is the Black, a tributary
' f the Boquet. It defines about live miles of our west-
ern border, the boundary line between Elizabeth town
:ind "Westijort following its eastern bank. It ris?s in
the southeastern corner of the township of Elizabeth-
town, in Long F()nd, which lies nearly sixteen liundred
feet altove tide. "Long Bond" is the name given on all
the old maps, but I see that the latest Government sur-
vey has changed it to "the Four Bonds." Doubtless
that wldeli was one continuous pond in the early days
(•f thick forests and deej:), full streams, has now dwin-
dled to tVnir small ponds connected by slender brooks.
From Jjong Bond runs Brandy Brook, falling over live
iiUndreil feet in iess than two miles, into Black Bond,
which is connnonly given its modern title of Lincoln
Bond. Black*Bond was named, like the Black river,
from the color of its water, derived from tlie iron in the
^oll. Fron) Black Bond the river runs north-east, and
all ahmg its course yon may find its banks dotted with
the ruins of mills and forges.
At "the Kingdom" lies the most memorable ruin, ri-
valing the mournful intt-rest of "Seventy-five." I have
always wished some one would tell me why a soulless
co!-p,, ration ever chose tin.' nanie of "the Kingd'jm Irou
< Mc CoiiiiKUiy." Was it ^^•lth a bounding hi'pe for the
-^'^' HiSTom' OF \\'i:sTi'<)irr
future liko'tli.it o\|)ies.secl bv tlio soulhoni negroes in
tjioir sioijg of "Kijigdoni Come?" At any rate, tljc nau)e
is all tliat is loft to remark u])on now, and as even tliat.
does not belong to Westport, we must Ijuiry on down
the river. ^
It is .^ix Inin(]red feet above sea level at Meigsville,
and four hundred fyet above it at its junction with tlic
Boquet in Lewis. It has a deseeist from Black Pond
to the Boijuet of six iiundred and tirty feet. It Avill be
seen that with this fall, and witli the volume of water
herein early days, the stre.tm was of great value to the
first settlers, and as long as there was u demand for the
products of milb and forges. To-day there is but one
mill running along all itscourse,— theone at Brainard's
Forge,— but, alas, for the ancient pride of the river, the
•saw is driven by steam I A luindred years ago the river
ran with full b,-inks, dee^. .-ind still, all the year, but
now in sumuier it d.wii.d!i-s to a thin stream, spread
over a pebbly b.ed. The w;.ter i>^ u,n dow noticeably
dark, exeepi'as it runs ovt-r atones whieh sh..w the
ooha-iug of b-on ore. I suppose that when the first
.settlers saw it, it had something of the inky blackness
of the AuSabhi river in the Chasm, Hashing into white
:it tln> falls and rapi^ls.
Four bridges (-ross the lUaek rivei frou) one town-^
ship to the (ither.
The small str.'ams entirelv within the tov/nship are
numerous. There are at least five flowing into the Bo-
tpiet, and as many into the Black river. In the centei-
oi;th-town,liMwi.,-i„!.u/A. :XnrthwestBav,and.ros-;ed
ifisroiiY uF wKsrroirr -/.v
iir-ar its inoutli by the biiili^o in the village, is Hoising-
t< Ill's brook, n;iuied iifter au earl}' settlor. In strict
justice it shonUl be called the Lovelancl brook, us the
Lovthuids jtrecedecl the Hoisiugtons on the farm near
its source, but strict justice does not always prevail in
the names of plat'es. In some cases our local names
uo back to the earliest comers, and generation after
L'l'nfratioii makes no effort to change them, thus pre-
srrving a record of early history, and pr:;ventiug all
further confusion. There is something pleasant in the
tiiought of thus honoring the fii-st settlers, who
siw the country when it was new, cut the first trees,
jtloued tlK^ first furrow, and did so much to make it •
h.ibitable for us who were to come after them. Not that
1 am mnrmiiring that Hoisiugton brook should be so
railed. It is a good old name, and that the two fish
ponds date back only to the day of the Hoisingtons is
>^ut1it'ient re;\son for naniing the v.hole brook after
thv-m. lly the roadside, near the bridge at Hois-
ington's. tlie travidler can see two pretty little ponds,
one emptying into the othei", and the outlet falling into
the brool;. The sources (^f the brook are much higher
in the mountains. This stream was called Mill }3rook
by the tirst settlers at Northwest Bay.
1 laiumoHcI Iji'ooJv.
The Iloisington bro.-k is joined, not far back of the
vilhige, by another stream coming from the south-west, I
calh.'d the Uamu)oiid brook. This stream has for one
<if its soiirc.'s the M.oinitain Spring, which supplies the I
-">(> II I STORY OF WFsrroirr
village with water. Of Into yorus it is sometimes spok-
en of as the Pooler 1. rook, but tht' old name is mucli
ofteiler used, and is far more np])r(ipriate. Xathan
Han)mond settled ]\cre nc.t lonp; ;ifter ISOO, and his son
Gideon, also a'dv.eller by the brook, was a prominent
mnn in our history, bfing supervisor of the town for
years, and going to Alliany to rcpn-sent the couiitv in
the Assembly. They are all gone, long since, but the
ijame is still used.
On the map (;f tlie United States Geological Survey,
though it is quite con-eet so far as the natural
aspect of the country is concerned, our Hoisington
brook is miscalled the "Hammond brook," while tht^
true Hammond brouk is given n(.) name at all.
Ofren a stream is known by ditferent names at dif-
ferent i^oints along its o<un-se. Up in the mountains,
wliere Josej)!! Stacy, one of the first settlers, owned
l.'.rge tracts of lan.l. you v.ill hear of "the Stacv brook."
Near its mouth, whtre it falls into Coil's bar, you will
hear it called "ColTs l.>rook." But there is still anoth-
er name. Nothing in all my stinly of our town historv
has (h'lighted m.- nu.re than to lind this l>rook referred
to, in the tomnii'ii spet-i'h of thtj ne-ighborhood, as "the
llaymond brook." This is the ohiest survival of no-
njenclature th.it [ have iliscovered. It dates back to
that first of all first settlers, Etlwurd Raymond, who
came here in 177i>, and formed a small settlement at
the mouth of tlie bi^.;-!.. Janu-s \\ . C'oH cauje to thi>
iiisrouv or WKS'i I'Ojir .:/
\iriiiity in ISdS, ami I l)e;ivel his f^ramlsoii, uitliout <>\\'j^-
'u^si'nm or preiiUMHtation, refer to this as "tlir^ Jtayinoihl
hroi)k," thus showing that tiiis was the accepted name
ill the family. Srii>>ly we eaunot ilo better than to keep
this up. The hipd in this vicinity may change hands
as many times in the next quarter century as it has in
the L-ist, but it is to he ho[)eil that the lit ilo river mav
never lose thu name ot Jhiyjuoml. Tli,' name of tlio
original Coll is perhaps sntlieiently honoied bv giving
liis uame to the bav.
The Raymond Ijrook, then, is our longest stream,
with its liighest sour(;e prob.ibly tifteen hundred fe^^t
above tide, in tlie mountains near the Kiizabetlitown
\'n\f\ On my map it is made to rise in Xiehols p(md,
but I am told that this is a mistake, and that the out-
h-t of the pond is toward the west. It is a beautiful,
clear niountain strenm, vitli man.y a little fall and cas-
cade, and still pools full of trout. It nndces a most
niusical eomj)anion on tlu^ ro.-ul to Sevetdv-liv*', and it
is a eiuiNiilr-iabU- stream where it tlov,s undrr the high-
way near A\'illianj Floyd's. When it has come in sight
of the lake, and Hows under the bridge near the CTruett'e
resilience, it leaps over a steep ledge of rocks in one
f-.-'aming sheet. Above the fall is the jiool where half
tiie town, in ancient times, used to come to wash their
shee[i.
Mullciii Ih-oolv.
On Sauthinr's ma[>, maile 1779, of the lake there are
two of our streams [uit down, — Hoisingtou and Mullein
'^■2 niSToin' OF wi:sTp(>irr
bro(/ks. Only cue is f^iven a ii.iiiit', find that tliu hitter,
v'hioh is called ''Iron or Beaver Cr." Ou the map of
the Irou Ore Tract, made ISIO, it is called "Uever
Creek," so that it is plain that this was its early name,
unchanged for the time of one '/enei'ation. ("13ever" is
not a misspelling of "J.)ea\er," but the same word in
the Dutch language. Albany, you remember, was
calind I)y the Dutch "Beveruyck.";
In thoold town records, in ISb"), it is spoken of as
"MoUins brook," and afterward as "Mullens" aiid
"Mullin" lirook, as though a man by that name lived
near it, which was ])erhaps the case. It is well-known
that the heroine of Longfellow's "Courtship of Miles
StanJish" was namrd Briscilla Mullen. Possibly a de-
scendant of the family of arch and io\ely wife of John
Aldeu settled in early days ujion this rushing mountain
torrent. It is an odd coincidence that there is a liill-
side, just wliere the highway crosses t!iis brook, vs-hieh
1 have always stt-n covered with the atifl', untidy,
]>overty-sti-ickeij haves and stalks of the common mul-
lein, and I had b.'H.'Ved from childhood that this hill-
side gave its name to \.\\i- stream. Later years brouhgt
the retltH'tion that ii was likely to have been named
l)efore the forest was cut frojn that liill, and now I
cherish an original thfory of my own. Near the end
of th(> Frt-ncli and Indian war, one of the men of Bobert
Bogers, tiie Bang.-r, was sent on a dangerous and dar-
ing orraml up this sid.- of the lake, fiom Canada to Lake
George. His nam.' wns Lieutenant Patrick McM alien,
»ntl 1 ilk.- to b.-ii-,ve that he had some romantic ad-
iiisToin- or wusri'mrr r>:i
vj'Hturo near this stream whieii causei] it to be ealloMl
after his iianio.
It risfs hi^h in tlie Iron Ore Tract, probably thir-
t.ieii huii(b-(M] feet aliove sea level, aiul tlows down the
sivle of Bald Peak with a swift, tumblirtf^ current. In
tile early days it l^ad strength to ran a mill at "Steven-
^')u's," but now it can be used only a little wliile in the
r-]'ring fiood.s. From the mill it dro])s iuto a deep,
ilark J'avine, at the steep foot of Bald Peak. Between
this ravine and the r<">ad lies the litth; cemetery, with
its wiile outlook over the lake and Vermont to the
s.iutli, and the <i:loomy mountain risino; hi^^h behind it,
a most picturesque and lonely spot. The brook is
crossed by the highway and the railroad near its moutli.
From the highway bridge you can catch the prettiest
glimpse of the water of the lake, framed in by the arch
of the culvert under the railroad. The little valley is
very dtn-p, and the "fiH" of the railroad very high and
d.-ingerous. Eugiueers know that the embankment here
is treacherous, and nevei' to be trusted after a heavy
ruin.
1)< 'avei- ]>r<)ok.
South of Raymond brook is a stream comparatively
short, an<l with many tributaries, called on the Govern-
nuiut ma]) of ISOG "Beaver Brook." It rises in the
hills west of the "back road," anil tlows iuto Presbrey's
bay at the stone bridge, on the lake road. One branch
"f it comes down the hillside back of Oren Howard's in
a pretty fall, and runs unJer the giv-at till in the rail-
roitil thcrt-. Another branch su[»})licd the water f.ir
o-f lusTouY OF wKsrroirr
tl,e resevAoiv Avlioie tlie locomotives ^^'atel•pJ on tlio
switch, l)cfore the l.-ir^c resrvwir w;i.s huilt at tho sta-
tion anil su|'p!itnl !>y the IMonntain, l^[>iing. There is a
ford at the mouth of tliis lu'ook, and whrn tlie biid-e
was \\\) for re}>airs. a number of years ago, people who
liad not l)een^foVfwarned to oo by the back road would
souietimt's drive thron<;h the shallow waters of the bav
to reach the Vviad on the other side aoain. After an
east wind has been blowing, you w'lW find the ^ater
under the stcjue bridge running wyi stream, from the
lake iuto the brook.
This brook is not shown in the large atlas of 1S7G,
which is a strange oversight fur so accurate a work.
On the Ciovernment map ol IS'Jl] the bay into which it
iiows is called '"Mullen Day," which is manifestly
wrtnig, ami will, 1 have been assured, be corrected in
the next editimi.
'i'here is anotiiei- ]n aver l^rook in the northern j>art
(>f the tow nship. it rises on the western slope of the
Split ]b)el; range, ami Iimws ni)rth through the Mather
and \Yhallon f irins into the Boquet river, in Essex.
The name is a cumnn.n one, and indicates that the first
settlers found, the b-'aveis and their dams in great num-
ber on thes^' streams. And now I sujipose there is not
one V)eaver h ft for thi^ generation to kill.
^lany litth- str.-.im^ itow into the lake all along the
shoi-e, -ome of them div a p.art of the year. "Hc-lfs
bn.ok" w;i> formerly 'Tb.gers's brook" and is crossed by
two bridg.-s near the ^Uau^ house at the folk of the
ro.els. J! run-- tho'nuli tiic i-ed.ar v.(.;)ds into a sandv
insroin' of ]vi:srr(jin' .^.5
i>iv, aii'l ;it its month was an eucainpnu-nt of Imlian.-i
v.lion Hozekiali Barber came here in 1785. A httl-3
-tivam .sets ifi to the head of Sisco Bay, rniniinp; thron5:;h
!i ih'ep \v.)iuhMl nivine after it crosses the ruad on Mrs.
L.'i-'s land. Another, near Hunter's Bay, makes its
^U•nder way dowiK tlie sid-- of the monutain and runs
i!!to the hdie across a Hat, bare rock, sanK)tlied by the
action of water and ice for ages.
Wht'U ohl |ieo])Ie have talked to me. of the streams
• if onr town as tliey knew them in their youth, they
iiave always striven to iuj})ress me with the fact that
ail this country was fur better watered then than it is'
now. Some short streams have entirely disappeared,
Mrs. Harriot Sheldon, dau-liter of fdezeklah Barber,
has told me of a brook which in her girllnjod's days
van into tlie head of Young's bay, of volume sutlicient
to run a spinniup; wheel which had been made to work
by water power. It is known in the family now as ''the
spinnin,^^ wheol place." And Mrs. William Bichards,
dauj^hter of Ira Henderson, has "told me hosv high the
water nsed to come np behind her father's honse, cov-
ering all the marsh iH the mouth of the bi-ook, so that
hi.-; l)oat:-. came to the foot of his garden to load and un-
load tlieir freight. Old boatmen will tell vou the same.
MOrNTAlXS.
r)f niMiiiiiains surely we have g<jod st(jre, but of single
peaks with a distinctive history hardly cuie. I'lirough
tli" centre of the t'jwnship lies a v.illey of irregular
. oo jusroin' of westpojit
sbaj.e, rLiniiiuo- back to the uortliwest, from tlie lake t<.
the ]Mack and Boquet iiv.,.rs. TJiis valley is widest on
the lake front, and extends from Head lands on the
north to .the southern extremity of Bessboro. It
contains all the tillable land of the township, of
^vhic•h the most valuable are those of the southern
lake front and the rich bottom lands of the Boquet.
The few farn^s between Coon mountain and the Split
Rock ranoe, in the valh-y of the Boquet, should be
added to this area. All the rost of the town is rou-h
wouutaiuous country, covered with timber, with " here
and there a high, sandy farm, cleared when tJ.e countrv
was new, whose light soil is easily cultivated, but ].ow-
erless to make rich returns. We may be said to have
two mountain systems, although when the Adirondacks
are viewed as awhole, both belong to the Schroon ran-e,
Avhich extends from Schroon Lak^' t(^ Split Bock. IMie
mountains to the south-west of onr fiaiitful and inhab-
ited valley we call the Bon Oiv Tract. Tiio.se to the
liorthe.ust we call the Snlit Bock range.
The valley mentioned lends a beaudful variety to the
sky line as s.ef, from the lake, as it slopes upward from
the head of the b.y, wh-re the village lies, back to th.-
lii-hlands of Bli/:d.u.thtown, .bviding the dark mass of
bills which lor.n tin. Jron On- Tract fron. th,- ru-^ed
spursoftheSplitno.k range, pushing boldly intoU.e
lake. Through the gap are se.n, sketclu^d in the el.ar
fine blue of mountain distances, the outlines of Mount
Ilurncan. and t!u. .By peaks. Against a sunsU ^kv
jnsTom' OF ]yj:sTPO]iT nj
:ii)il roflected in tlit* still water of the bay, it is a si^lii;
t., lio tliiiiikful for.
The hipjliost mouutain in town has no name, of its
own. It lies in the south-west corner of the town, and
i> nineteen hundred feet hi<^h. It is between Stacy and
MuIUmu brooks, and its summit may be pointed out as
the one next north of that of Bald Peak. Between it and
I'.ald Peak lies the high valley through which passes the
'•Bald Peak road."
The Schroou range attains its highest elavatiou in
Bald Peak, which rises two thousand and sixty-five feet
above tide. It is now in Moriah, though it belonged
to ancient "\Vestport. Seen from the lake road, nearj
tii^ cv-nietery, it seems a noble height, rugged and grand.
It is easily ascended from Mineville, on its western
slope. Its summit was an important point in the meas-
urement of distances in the Adirondack Survey of Ver-
plauck Colvin, as you may read in his report. Upon
the map of the Gc()l(;gical Survey of 1S92, (edition of
Is'.iN, it is named "Bald Knob" instead of Bald Peak.
This is, I think, to distinguish it from the "Bald Peak"
of Elizabethtown* which is nearly a thonsand feet
higher. The change of name is a very reasonable
fnu^, and my mind was fain to further it, but I have
f'Hind local usage so persistent that I have subsided fronr
the reformer to the mere unreasoning chronicler.
The people who live nearest neighbors to the mount-
ains have names for all the heights, like the Harper
mountain, (named after a family who lived at its foc>t
i.'i L-arly times,) thy Xichols Poud niountaius, etc. I.
o.y ni^Toiiv OF wKSTi'oirr
believe tlie hei\u,!it back of the old Broiul'V place, wLeie
William Smitii now lives, is called the Bromley luount-
aiu. It is over a thousand I'ef^t high, aud eveu from the
foot of it, whero tlie house stands, a remarkable view is
obtained, looking o\er the vSplit Eock range down the
lake. At the top it must be magnificent. The mount-
ain back of Xichols pond, v.diere the iron mines are, is
Campbell mountain, named, ivom an early owner ijf
the ore beds.
The 8plit Hock range forms one continuous mass
from Headlands to Split Piock, penetrated by but one
carriage roail, in the whole distance the one going in to
Hock Harbor. There area naml)er of well worn tia Is
across the mountidns, following the valleys, and the
heights are by no means inaccessible. The highest
point is (.)ne thousand aud thirty-tive feet, aud is called
Cirand View. Tt vises almost sheer from the waters
of the lake. This is tlje m(nintain which frowns upon
you as you enjerge form the mout.h of Otter Creek, dark
uilh its iron rocks anil its evergreen trees, and with the
buildings of' the old Iron Ore Bed works clinging to a
narrow shelf half way up the side.
A spur of the S[)lit Hock range to the westward, its
base washed by the Doijuet Biiver, is Coon njountuin.
lis name is desciiptive even now, us it is not at all un-
common for a raccoon to be killed within its shadow.
■Its l)eight is luu; thousan^l and tifteen feet. Standing
on the ramparts of Crown Point fort, you may see its
scalloped outlin.'s against the sky, and it is a well-
knov. n l.ti;d!a;ok n[> and .lown the lake.
uisToin' OF wHsrroirr oft
jioral Diinies nvc Ilig£,niisou's ;iiul Lop's inomitjuns,
niul ^ileilin's Penk, a fanciful luiine for u liill near the
ro:ul, on the \vest of the Split Hock range.
PONDS.
Xi.-holH l\>ii(l,
Our })onds cannot be said to be nnnierous when one
considers that we are reckoned as belonging to the
.-Vdirondack country. All that we have lie within the
Iron Ore Tract. The largest is Nichols pond, lying
\\ill back in the. mountains, not far from the town line.
("liack," in our parlance, may always be understood to
man '"toward the west," or "away from the lake.") It
li--s fourteen hundred feet above sea level, and is sar-
i*-unded bv high forest-clad mountains. It is less
than a mile in length, and has twc> islands. u{>(>n
one of which is a peiiuauent cnai[). No highway runs
i.t ar it, but it is reache'l by two trails, one from the
• ast, the other from the south, each about two miles
long. If you go in -from the east, you will leave the
liighway near Ed. McMahon's, not far from the |)lace
vJiere the charcoal kiln stood for so many years, and
follow up the track of the old tra!n road, which will
l>-ad you direct to the ])ond. This tram rc^ad was built
lo carry ore from the mines to the highway, but
was never finished. You will find the ruins
of the separator which scfvarated the ore after it was
rai>rd from the miue,neai the nortii-yrn end of tlu'pond.
,r.(> 1/ /STOAT or WFsrroirr
The ovigiual Juhu Nichols, after wlioui tlie poud was
iiaDied, lived whore Ed. McOIahon now docs. He came
iii sometime daring the tirst decade of the nineteenth
century, and now lies buried, with others of the same
name and race, in tlie Hoisingtou cemetery. Within
the past few years I liave heard some peop'e who were
not acquainted witl) the iiistory (^f this region call the
poud "Nicholas pond," an error caused by a misunder-
standiiJg of the name. The earliest name given it was
"Spring Pond," as is shown on the nicip of the Iron Ore
I'ract, made in 1810. This name is very appropriate,
as there is no doubt that the poud is fed main'y by
springs iu the bottom. There are but a few small in-
lets, quite iusuflii'ieLt to maintain such a body of water.
The outlet according to the latest Government survev,
is through Cohl Brook, flowing from the southern end
of the [)onvl, westward U) theJilack river. On the Piatt
Pogers map of 178.3 the Stacy brook is made to rise in
two ponds not far ai^ar^, and of nearly the same size, one
of which is no doulit intendi-d [(»• our Nichols ])on<i.
That part of the map was not based on actual survev,
and is maiilfcstly int^xact. On the niap of the Imn
Oie Tract it i> im[u.ssil'.lf to tind the outlet, as the pa-
per was folded across the pond, and has worn entirely
away in the creases. A gentleman who camped fm-
.several summers at the pond has assureil me that the
Government survey is right, and the older ma])s wrong.
The trail to the jioutl from the south gees in from the
road to SL'Veiity-livM, a little way east of Levi Moore's.
msroiiv OF wicsrroirr r>i
'I'liis wav it is ]i(i!^sil)lo tf> drive in witli a loaded tfani.
11. .ill tlipso (rails you ^ill find well worn, as tliey are
u.-( il w ^roat deal all tluougli t1i(^ season, can)i)ini,' ]iai'
tifs sonietirnes staying late in the fall, 'i'lie pond is a
favorite resort for convalescents or for tlio.-,p threatened
with limp; troubles, on account of its elevation, and
suiue cures have been thou<i'ht to datn from a sojourn
licic. The famous WilU'v l{ouse, in }\<^ene, so well-
known as a refuse for victims of liay fever, has an ele-
valii:)n of only seventnen hundred and sixty feet, and
niaiiy popular jilaces in the Adirondacks have no <;reat-
«-r elevation than Nichols I'ond.
Women seldom visit the pond, hecanse of the rough
walliufj; thron;;li the woods, but ])arties sire sometimes
n.atle uj) for theii- esp^^cial convenience.
For an invalid with any predisposition to heait
trduble, fourteen iiundrc.l hn^t is a much safer elevatit)n
thai) eighteen hundred or two tiiousiind.
North I\.)ijtl.
'idie pond next in siz(^ is North pond. This bes in
tile sontluvestern corner of the township, and its name
indicates that its lirst discoverer came in from the south.
It is the most northern of three ponds wdiich feed Bart-
l''tt bror.k, in Moriah. its outlet tlous south through
•"^-•Vf.'nty-tive into IJartlett pond, which lies just over the
bne hi M<uiah. Mr. Walter Wilherbee of Tort Henry
has ;i sumuier cottage on North pond. occuj)ied iu the
hunting season. 'J'he pond lies higher than the main
'"•■id, and is not in siitht from it.
f)2 lILSrORV OF WIJSTJ'Oh'T
There is a smull pond, callfd by tliat often iiseil iiml
most blii^ditin;^ name of "Mud pond," half a mile or
more soutli of North ])oi]d, which is ahso one of tlie
head waters of the Bartlett brook. It is icachcd by a
trail from thehi|^hway. On the northern side of Camp-
bell mountain is a tiny pond, hardly worth mention,
and on the eastern side (jf Coon mountain is a shallow,
marshy pond, reached by iu road whioh turns in north
of Mout^ville's. Doubtless there are others in town
wliich have never come to my notice.
The ponds at Hoisiugton's are artificial, and were
made by !Marcas Hoisington, I have been told, by dam-
ming natural springs. They lie by the side of the road,
at the turn near the old Hoisiiigton place, and for many
years it was a pretty sight to look down upon them as
one passed b_v, but of lati; they are somewhat over-
grown by underbrush. One empties into the other, and
the outlet liow.s into the [ii)isingtou brook. They were
«)riginally intended U)v the breeding of fish.
In one respect the Hammond (sometimes called the
Pooler) brook is the most remarkable of all our
streams, and the one of most importance to the village
of Westport, in that it rises in the Mountain Spring.
Me>st of the brooks have innumerable tiny sources high
on the sides oi the mountains, little trickles out of
pockets of wet moss, dripping down the clitis to j<)iu
other tiny streams until a brook is formed, but here a
large >i})ring, fully a rod across and three or four feet
deep, bursts out at tiie font of a hill, and Hows awav a
full stream. The elevation is less than six hun-lifd
IJ J STORY OF WKSrrORT f::^
U-A, juid there must be reservoirs of supply somowliore
ill the valleys of the iiiouutaiDS which ri.se so dark to
westward. I ouce heard some of the mouutain dweU
It r>, whose fathei's and j^'randfathers roamed these hill-
sides nil tlieir live:"», knowinji; little of any other ])art of
the world, f^ravely discussing the question whether this
^i'lin.ii; might not be an outlet to Nichols pond. h.
river tiowin«; two mile.s and a half nnderground, with a
fall f>f eight hundred feet, makes a picture delightful to
om-'s imagination, with its suggestion of Coleridge's
"lvnV»la Khan,"
"Wiif-re Al])h, the sacred rive)', ran,
Through caverns tneasurt-less to man,
Down to a sunless sea."
And I heard too, nt tlie same time, legends of a "Lost
Ihook," which uiight be followed for a long way by
Sdiiu' lone tishevm;iu, who would at last come to a deep
]'('(il beneath overhanging boulders, and there the brook
V. ould disapi>ear entirely, and never could be traced
Hni)ther rod. I have clierished these tales for their hint
of a folk-lore among our pi'osaic people.
This mountain spring was earlv a precious posses-
siiMi. well-known to the first settlers, and no doubt
t" the Indians befoi'e them. I think it was Joseph
Stacy who cleared the f(M-ests from the field near the
s]>iing. and he gained but a l)arren pasture thereby.
Ibu th(- little glen arouml the spiing, and through
whicii the brook flows away down the hills, is still
shaded with trees. The water is very clear nnd soft,
a!:.l snpj.lies all the village through pi[)es. The plao-
(!4 1 [I STORY OF W'ESTPOIIT
is not si5 wild and pretty 'siuco tlie pavilion has beeu
l)uilt over tlio sprinj^ by the water compaii}', but the
tlow of water iu the brook is not perceptibly dimin-
ished by the hir^;e quantity drawn away daily, especi-
ally in the summer. The water is carried to the railway
station, where it fills the great stone reservoir, to Stony
Sides and to Jacksonville.
In the southeastern corner of the town, about a half
mile from the lake and not far from the railroad, lie the
Adirondack Springs, four in number. I believe tlie
analysis shows them to be very similar to the famous
springs of Saratoga, and I am sure they liave much the
same forbidding taste. They have had great local
celebrity since the first settlement, especially in the
cure of skin diseases. Twenty years or more ago Mr.
George Spencer bought tlje property, built spring
houses over the spiing.s, hung np ;>. framed analysis of
their waters, and invited fame and i^-osperity to the
spot, but neither responded in ;niything but a moderate
digroe, and the mantle of Saratoga has not yet fallen
upon us.
Almost every farm has one or two small springs
for domestic u-e, though iu some places the tell-tale
windmill proclaims the i)overty of the water supplv.
HISTORY OF WESTPORT ilr>
FLOI^A.
Our short summer is full of luxuriant life. Though
wo call our mouutains barren, because they produce so
little with which" to support human life, they are covered
with the richest foliage everywhere except u]3ou the
steepest ledges and elites. All the country is green and
beautiful with a wealth of vegetable life.
Oar most common trees, are the maple, elm, birch
and oak. There is the soft maple, which has every
twig as red as coral in the spring, and the rock maple,
or sugar maple, which furnishes a staple industry in the
season of sugar making. The elm is not so common
nor so large as in the Connecticut valley, but its grace-
ful shape is seen in every landscape. One of our dis-
tuictive trees is the white birch, slender, with delicate
foliage, apparently always young. The finest oaks that
1 know are those at the Hunter place, on North Shore.
They look as though they saw war-dances of
JiT.,piois, and would hold those great limbs out for cen-
turies after we are ail gone. Ash and poplar are also
common. Ou the highlands we find the white ash,
goud for timber, and in the swamps the worthless black
^'--h. The shimmering poplar is one of our pret-
tiL-st. forest trees, and we have the Lombardy poplar,
I'ut that, of course, is a tran.splanted tree, brought in
Jiom New England, whence it came from old England,
^^^■ho jiad it from Italy, who had it first from Persia.
J'iiere are only a few in town, but the fine row at Basin
Harl>or make a decorative efFect veiy noticeable on a
f!0 HISTORY or WESTPORT
clear day. Other tiansplnuted trees, not native to our
foi-e.st, are the iocnst, a favorite in old-fashioned door-
yards for the sake of its fragrant blossoms in the sprinrr;
the mountain ash, brought from liigh mountain levels
for the beauty of its great scarlet bunches of berries;
the horse-chestnut, Avith its spikes of blossoms, the
silver maple, and the "balin of Gilead." Our basswood
is the English linden, I have been told, and its blos-
soms are loved by the bees.
Our-nut trees are the hickory, which we always call
the walnut, the butternut, and the beech. We have neither
the chestnut tree nor the black walnut, although a few of
the latter have beeu set out as an experiment. In this
climate many of the shells of the black walnut will be
found to be empty. The haxel nut is common, growing
on wayside shrubs, and the weird witch hazel, with its
wild Xovcnd)t>r l)lossoms. Hardback, willow, aiders
sumac, osier.— I am afraid I shall not name thorn all.
Our evergreen trees are pine, spruce and hemlock,
with some cedar and balsam, and an occasional tam-
arack. The juniper sprawls untidily over barren cleared
fields. Wild vines are the bitter-sweet, the clematis or
smoke-vine, the wild grape, the wood-bine, and the
dreaded poisi^i i\ v.
Every field has strawl>erries in June, and raspberries
a little later along the fences, and then blackberries.
You may find a f-w blueberries on the mountain
sides, but nothing like tlie blueberry plains of Saranac,
where they are scoop, d olV the bushes ^^\ih tin dipj.ers
HISTORY OF WEST roar 6'7
;iml brou<;ht dowu to tlio lowlands iu wagon-loads to
1h> sold.
Our CLiltivatod fruit trees are the apple, pear, cherry
and plum. We are too far north for peaches, quinces
or prunes, though I have known them all to be raised
as an t^xperimeut. The apple crop of the Champlain
vnlley is acknowledged to be as good as anything in the
market, and Vrestporl raises large qaatititics of apples.
I suppose there is not a dangerous wild auinuil left
in Westport, even in the recesses of the mountains.
]5iit I may perhaps speak too confidently, as I remem-
ber that within twenty years our oldest hunter, Mr.
Hinckley Coll, brought into the village the carcass of a
b.-ar which he had caught in a trap somewhere in the
bills back of his farm. 1 ate a piece of the steak cut
from it myself, and very black and tough it seemed.
Even as I write, is there not alawsuit pending, in which
rh;ugt:s are made against some person, not a bear, who
stole a bear trap from a mountain side? I believe the
trap was set a long time ago, and the person who stole
it is dead, and the lawsuit the ex[nession of a mountain
f'Hid, but it shows that we have not forgotten what
bear traps are, at any rale, and so has its value as a
picturesque incident. Panthers have been extinct
williiij our limits a longer tiuje than bears, but the old
p'^ojile can still tell you stcn'ies about wolves. Mr.
Henry Uetts has told hju of shee[) cauglil by wolves
^>S HISTORY OF WESTPORT
vhon lie w;is a young man, living on a farm on tli(!
M-estern slope of tlio Split iJock range, and of bears
who came iiroLHul the out-buildiugs at night.
The moose were gone more than two generations ago,
and the beaver, so harmless and so easily killed, was
soon exterminated by the eai'ly settlers.
The largest wild animal VNhifh we ever see is the
deer. Their gentle hiibirs lead them sometimes to seek
pasturage among shee() and cattle in outlying pastures.
Foxe^an'l rabbits we have, the "fretful porcupine,"
dangerous to inexi^erienced dogs, the loud and fre-
• queut skunk, the solemn woodehuok. the striped-baek
chipmunk, the pert red squin'el, the beautiful silver
gray squirrel, whose tail is such a splendid plume, and,
though rare, the Hying squirrel. There are muskrats
around the brooks, sometimes a mink or !i marten.
The farmer's boy has stories of tlie elusive weasel, and
the raccoon is still occasionally killed. Swarms of wild
bees are found and hived ever}- season bv lovers of the
gentle craft of "hunting bee trees."
Mosquitoes we know, esjx-cially if living neai- the
edge of the woods, but they are seldom troublesome
after June. The dreaded black-liy of the mountains I
have never seen here.
I think our only game bird is tlie partridge. AVe
have all the northern singing birds, robin, boboliid<,
blue-bird, chicka.lee, phebe-bird, oriole and the cat-
bird, or American mocking-bird, with its two distinct
songs. Th^- swallow builds uniler the eaves of barns,
and the I'l.'gli^h sp;irrow is n.-iM" in the village street.-.
niSTonY OF WKSTPuirr c.)
\Vt.' are sure that spring lias come only -when we liave
li. aril, i.ni tlie eJge of the evening, the cry of the whip-
pooruill.
The oldest family %vhieh can trace lineal descent
within the bordej-s of the town is that of the rattle-
siiake. They are found in but one locality— that of
the remoter parts of the Split Rock range. Here they
have d. lis in the rocks, and when there was a bounty
paid by the town for each rattle, people living near by
used to go iuto^ the mountains to their dens and kill
tliem in large numbers. I believe the bounty is no
longer }iaid, which seems a pity, as tiiese unpleasant
iifigiibors must be increasing. There is no record of
any jiersou being bitfeii by them within the memory of
living man. I have tried to draw out rattlesnake stories
from people who ha^e lived long in the rattlesnake re-
gion, but never heard of even a cow in the pasture whicli
suth-red fiom the wound of a rattlesnake bite. I have
been told tiiat it was unpleasant to find one of the un-
canny things in a cock of hay in the liay field, or to
i;ome upon one sleeping comfortably in your back
kitchen, but the rattlesnake is not pugmicious, and
Would rather run than tight. The Indians tried to pro-
pitiate them by always speaking politely of them as
"the (jld briglit inhabitants."
70 mSrORY OF ]VESTl'OnT
ci.i:matj:.
The climrit*' of We.stport is, lilse it.s dialect, tluit of
New EDgfaud. It is often described by the uatives,
(who couM not be induced to exchange it for that of
any other spot on earth,) as "nine months winter and
tiiree luontiis hite in the fall. " Granting that there are
moods and seasons wlien this description has a ring of
solemn rcahty, it fails as a literal formula in one essen-
tial poii;t. It gives an impression of continuity, of
monotony, and never, never coald the worst enemy of
our climate call it monotonous! No, we have endless
variety. Our winter is long ami cold. A fire lighted
to warm the house in November will not be suffered to
go out until the next March, perha}>s April. We do not
expect much snow until after Christmas, though in ex-
ceptional years we iiave had a heavy fall for Thanks-
giving which has stayed upon, the ground until the next
spring. If yL»u \Aiiiter in 'W'ostport, pray for snow.
Anything but an "o[u-n \\ inter." A foot of hard packed
snow, gooil sleighing, no drifts, a clear air, and life may
be not only toleial>le but merry. Even heavy snows,
A\ith high wiiiiUai)d dee]) drifts, have an inteiest nud
eujovmt.nt, and st.-t one to quoting lines from "Snow-
bound" with much relish. Often there are ujarveKnis
displays of the aurora borealis, on clear cold nights.
The lake freizi-s over at any time between the first
(»f January and the middle of February. About once in
every generation there comes one of those exceptional
•winters when the lake does not freeze over at all. If
it frte/e-< late, W(; ate likelv ti) have no uood C10S?,inL'
JUsmHV OF WKSrrnRT 71
on tlio ii'.! from Westport to B;isiu Barbor, a distaiico
of foui- miles. The crossing; from Aruold's bay to
I5arl>er's pt>int is t4ic ouo most used. The lake is uai--
rouor from Rock Harbor to Basin Haibor, br.t this is
t'litirrly out of the ordinary line of travel. When the
ii-e is discovered' to be firm enough to bear up a horse,
sotiio one, usually a man living nciir the shore, "whose
family, perhaps, has pei'formefl the sau)e public service
for generations, like the Barbers of Barber's point, will
g() on the ice and '"bush out a road" from one shore to
the other, choosing the best places to cross the cracks,
turning out for air holes, etc. This road is outlined by
I'Ushes fixed in holes in the ice, and v.-ill be used by all
travelers until the ice becomes weak and treacherous
in the S[u-iug.
The ice breaks up, as a rule, between the last of
March and th,e first of ^fay. Sometimes it nielts slowly
ihd gradually under a constantly rising temperature,
but more often it goes out with tenspestuous winds,
which toss and grind it against the shore, sometimes
piling it many feet high. The bi-eaking up of the ice
is always eagerly longed for, and occasions much re-
mark and discussion.' The relief from tlie tension of
the "long and dreary winter" is always very noticeable.
Charles Dudley Warner described our s|)ring when
he dtscribed that of New England, — tiiat is, he de-
>eril)ed one siuing, kn(->wing full well that noone spring
time is ever like another. Sometimes it is long and
tedious, exaggerating Coleridge's line.
71? JIISTORY OF WlJSTJ'Oin'
"Spriiifi^ couK-s slowly up this way."
Sometimes we Lave a howling blizzard one week, and
the next,, —
"Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer — "
uni] we.liave not had an}' spring at all.
1 have gathered pussy willo\\s by the side of a dusty
ro-.rd early in March, and on the other hand, I have
seen 'my tomato plants seared by a frost the first night
in June. These two events represent the extremes of
my owe- experience, and m;iy be takeu to demonstrate
the fact that upon our calendar spring is a movable
feast. But, — "Thanks be !" as Mr. Dooley says, it al-
ways i.s spring when it comes, and it always brings
summer.
No higher praise of our summers can be said or sung
than that over and over again, year after year, they
force us to forgive our climate for the winters. Our
summers and autumnsarethe loveliest in the world.or at
least they seem so to us who love the "north couutree."
I have no statistics of the temperature, or the rain-
fall, or the velocity of th« wind, nor do I know that any
one ever took the trouble to observe these things scien-
tiiically in Westport. I know that the thermometer
sometimes touches ninety degrees above in the sum-
mer, and twenty below in the winter, but these are ex-
tiemes not repeated in every season.
Along the lake shore the tem}>erature is equalized to
a certain degree by the i)roximity of a large body of
water, so that sudden changes are iivt so much felt a>
JIISTOIiY or WESTrOlJT lA
ill the inoiuitaiiis. Frost comes earlier in tlte autnuiii
Miul later in tlio spring upon the highlands than aloiif,'
t!ie lake, and of course "Nichols pond and the rjve)-
freeze much earlier than Lake Champlaiu.
i:>IAIJX'l\
Our dialect you will find reproduced in the New
llni^land fiction of Miss Wilkius, Miss Jewett and Mr.
}h. wells. You will also find it iu "David Harum."
}>nt its most ]ierfect copy, drawn with the keenest sense
of its shades and fancies, you will find in the inimitai)lf
sketclies of Kowland E. Robinson. He is dead now,
alas I and he will never take us again to hear the talk
iii "Uncle 'Li.-;ha's Shop," nor let us go hunting with
Sau) Lovel. How well he knew the speech of the
ciiuiitry frdk, and with what love and enjoyment he set
it di»wn ! He Hved only a few miles away, across the
l:'ke in the town of Ferrishurgh, near I5asin Harbor,
and the people that he knew had the same ways, and
th«- same thoughts and the same forms of expression as
the people of \Vest])ort. Our amazement-is t^ometimes
♦•^pressed iu the mysterious a!lusi,-)u of "What iu Sam
Hill I" or "What in tunket!" We clip out of our
^peech every vowel and consonant that can })ossibly l)e
spared. We say, "We sh'd think 't Sam Lov'l 'n'
I't'l'tiah 'n' 'mongst 'em might 'a' ketched ev'ry dam
fish 'n th' lake b' this time," ]>recisely like Mr. Robin-
son's characit-rs. At the same time, most of us ar^
ptifi'ctly well able to wiile a letter in good dictionary
74 HISTORY OF WESTJ'URT
English, or to m;ike a speech, or to carry on a conver-
BatFon, and ouly drop into the dialect when we feel it
quite proper to the occasion. ^Ye are conscious of our
dialect and connoisseurs iu its use, like the Scotch, and
unlike the English, v.ho drop tljeir h's and final g's in
serene belief that all the world does the same.
But we have those among us who are not conscious of
their dialect. I do not mean the city visitors, hut the
French Canadians who form a certain proportion of our
population. Mr. Rohinson has given us the type in his
Antwine,-r-and many and many an "Antwine" is ours !
His broken speech, a mixture of Canadian patois and
Yankee English, his small wiry form, the traces of his
Indian ancestry shown in swarthy skin, high cheek
bones, black bead-like eyes and straight black hair, his
industry, his cleanliufss and thrift, his incapacity to
rise to wealth or oiliee, his illimitable family,— all
these characteristics mark the people known familiarly
and not disresj^eclfally as "Canucks." They probably
came iu very early, as soon as laborers were required
upou the farms or in the iron works, and, easily satis-
tied with simple conditions, have been content to stay.
These two forms (jf dialect seem to have moditied
each oth r but little, the native New England speech
being altogether the ]3revailing language. A close ob-
server can trace in the latter some moditicatious caused
by the summer floods of strangers from Boston and
New York. Thus the youth who was \yont to answer
an inquiry with a drawling "Wha-a-at ?" and a vacuous
stare, la '\gawp" w.> call ir iu th.; dialoct,) uow vosi.ouds
HfSTOh'Y OF WKSrrORT 7-'
with :v "iVji: pnvdon?" and an e)i^af^iu^ stuilo. The bear
stnn'--> .^f Tho OKlcst Inhabitant are still couched in the
origin.t,' ti^iii:;uo, but the hotel porter wlio takes yonr bag
at thf- >:cition might defy yon to prove liim not born in
XewY-k.
in NISTOKY OF WKS'/TORT
FIRST PAllT.
1G09-1785.
I.
Indian Occiipation.
The thst iuhabitaiits of Westport were tbe savage
Iroquois, one of the most powerful of the native
tribes. Their uomad life, with hoines in wigwauran.l
lod^e, was pbculiavly adapted to leaving no permanent
trace upon the soil. The beaver whom they
hunted has left more lasting impress of his labor
than they. The red Indian never built a dam, aud the
barl: cauoo which was the crowning eftbrt of his skill
and industry needed no wharf at which to laud. ^ hy
should he bridge a stream that his enemy might cross
more quickly than he ? But we often pick up an arrow
head, chipped with iutinite patience out of stone. On
laud that has been cultiv;Ued for a cuutury, we plow up
arrow heads with puiut and edges as sharp as when the
Indian hunter took aim along the shaft and pulled the
bow string to send it on its errand to fcje or prey.
If we can point to any local monument of the Indian,
it is in two plact-s wliich we call Indian burying grounds,
from the quantity of arrow heads which have been
found there. P<M-ha]>s Wf should c;dl them battle grounds
if otir kiiov.l.:d;.'.> was luorc couqilcte. Uu the Ijotpi-t
HISTORY OF Wh'ST/'njrr 77
rivt-r, a I'^ttlo below "Wadhaiiis Mills, is a ])liic(' always
icftjiiod to as "the old iiitlian buryiug grouud," and on
tilt' shore of Lake Chani])lain, south of the villap;e and
tiMith of Holt's brook, is another. Here I ain tolil that
Imndreds of arrow heads have been discovered.
Another remarkable si^n of Indiau oceu])ation is
fMUiul on the top of one of the mouutaius of the Split
ilni'k range, overlookiir^ North Shore, on the land
bought in 1838 by Uv. William Guy Hunter. Here are
found quantities of stone chippings, such as are left when
Indian pipes and other utensils are made, and which
always indicate an Indian work-shop. The place couj-
mands an extended view, and no doubt some tribe of
t!it^ Iroquois was,iu the habit of encamping here at in-
tervals in its wanderings. The stone chi}ipiugs a-e of
a peculiar kind of stone, unlike any in the vicinity, and
gf-ologists say that it is found only on the shores of
Lake Superior. Students of Indian character and cus-
ttiiiis find no dilBeulty in believing that the stone was
brought here from that placr. and supplied material for
tilt' lirst manufacture cai-ried on upon our soil.
Large, bowl-like hollows, worn into the solid rock,
fonud on the hillsides of the Split Ivick range. I have
ln'ard called "Indian Mortars," but these are no doubt
due to glacial action.
1009-1755.
Tlie first white man whose eyes rested u])ou the
shores of Westport was the discoverer of the lake, the
bra\e ajjd brilliant Samuel ile Champlaiu, a soldier in
78 n I STORY OF WESTPORT
the service of France. He passed by on July 4, IGOO
the leador of an Indian war-party in twenty-four canoes.
After tif^htinj:; a battle at the head of the lake with the
Iroquois, he returned, near the end of July, passiup; by
again on his way to Quebec, founded only the year be-
fore. His remark upon the eastern border of what is
now Essex county is this ; "These parts, though agree-
able, ar<j not inhabited by any Indians, in consequence
of their wars." In this it was said to be different to
the opposite shore, the level bottom lands of Vermont,
where vvere many Iroquois villages, with cultivated
fields.
Another reason doubtless influenced the ludians in
their avoidance of these shores. It was that they were
a corn-raising people, so far as their practice of the art
of agriculture went, and our clay soil is not adapted to
corn. An Indian village was always set up u})on sandy
or gravel'} lomn, if jiussible. Then the deep water of
the lake, with the wide sweep for storms upon it, was
very dangerous for the Indian's frail canoe, and for
common every day life he chose shallower water.
We do not know the name of tiie first white man who
set foot upon our soil, but there is little doubt that it
was one of the band of Jesuit missionaries who followed
close after Champhiiu, traversing all this region again
and again with the tireless feet and the unquenchable
liopo of the religious fanatic. Devoted, highmindeil
men were those missionaries, with an utter disregard
of selfish motives unsurpassed in the history of the
mind of r!:an. They lived among the savages, making
IIJSTom' OF WKSTJ'Oh'T 7!/
tl,»'U) selves snbjVct unto Ihein, and often faiiuij \v(>i->.e
tliau tliev. They were as patient as they were brave
a!i(l no snliliuiity of heroism can ever rise altove tht^
M-rcnity with which they lookeil forward to niartyi'ilom
u>. the consuinnuition of their work.
There is a singular proof of the visits of thesf n)i^^-
>ionaries to our shores. In the snnuner of 1S75, Dr.
St- wall S. Cuttinf]^, while walkiujj; along the slunt of the
lake near Hunter's Uay, on North Sliore, found among
Wiv sand aud pebbles a little ebony image of the Virgin
and Child, such as might be used in the devotions of a
devout Catholic, or shown to the wcuidering eyes of
ravages, liearing for the first time of the >[other and
Child of l^etlilehem. This image must have been lost
Iv a missionary qr bv some one of his dusky converts,
perhaps in the time of Oham[ilain. [>erha[)S much later.
Ir may have lielonged. to Father Jogues himself, one of
the most interesting and ]')athetic figures in all the his-
tory of New France."
Isaac Jogues was born in Orleans, France, in IT.OT,
He was a Roman Catholic })ricst, and belonged
to the order of Jesuits. He came tf> the new coi _
tin< lit ill lOoG, passing through the settlement on the
St. Lawrence to the Indian mission on Lake Huron, to
which he had been assigned. Heie he remained six yeais,
l.tliorint: with self-sacriticing fervor in his barren field,
•The im.iye found by Dr. Cutting was presented by him to the museum
o! Brown Uni»ersity, where it may probably be seen now. If Wistport had had
» rnuseuni of her own, as every town should hive, this interesting- relic would now
be treasured ia the scenes to which it belongs.
'SO lllSTunr OF WKSTl'ORT
ciud iij ]G42he weut to Quebec to obtain supplies In-
his mission, lietuniiiij:^ in ji canoe whicli Avas cue of
the foremost in a little fleet of twelve, filled with Huron
Inclians, he was ca])tured at the mouth of the Pvicholieu
river by a party of Iroquois, and carried captive up the
Richelieu and Lake Champlain, to the south. He mi^lit
have escaped, but seeing his companions taken, he p;ave
himself up. He v,as beaten with -war-clubs, and his
linger nails tornolTby the teeth of the Iroquois. The
two priests with him, Couture aud Goupil, were also
tortured.
"On the eighth day," (Aug. 9,) says Parkman, in his
"Jesuits in North America," "they approached th.ir
camp, on a small ishmd near the southern end of Lake
Champlain. The warriors, two hundred in number,
armed with clubs and thorny sticks, raiiged themselves
in two lines, between wliich the captives were compelled
to pass up the side of a rocky hill. On the way, they
were beaten with such fury that Jogues, who was tlie
last in the line, fell powerless, drenched in blood and
half dead. As the chief man among the French cap-
tives, he fared the worst. In the morning they re-
sumed their journey. And ntnv the lake narrowed to
the semblance of a trauvpiil river."
That the island im-ntioued was the one now included
within tlie limits of the township of Westport, aud
sometiuus called "No Man's Land," there is no doubt
whatever. Tht-re are no other islands near the south-
ern fu I of the hikt; cNctpt I'ock and Mud islands, near
in STORY OF WEST PORT f^l
the Yermout shore, anJ ueither oue is hirge enough to
aiVor^l a camp for two huiulred ludiaus.
The captives were taken by way of Lake George
to the Iroquois vilhip;esou the Mohawk river. For a year
Jop;nes remained a miserable captive among these hn-
niau wolves, tindiug his only solace in an occasional
opportunity to baptise a dying Indian baby, or a cap-
tive jterishing at the stake.
The Dutch of Fort Orauge forgetting all barriers of
blood or religion, tried in vain to ransom him. Finally
Arendt van Corlear, the governor so beloved and re-
spected by the Indians, who was afterward drowned iu
Lake Cliamplaiu, contrived to help him to escape to
France. There the queen herself kissed his mutilated
hands, and he was courted and praised, but the order
of Jesuits knows how to n)ake full use of such spirits
as that of Isaac Jogues, and in a fev.- months' time he was
sent back to Canada. It is said tliat when this decision
of his superiors was commuuicated to him, for a mo-
ment his heart of flesh failed him, and he cried out that
this cup might pass from him. One's heart goes out in
passionate pity for the man thus sent back to his doom.
In 1G4.6 he made three j(,)urneys through Lake Cham-
l)lain, and it may be that he stood again on the island
which was the scene of his former tortures, but we do
not know. The third time that he traversed the lake
he returned to the Mohawk, as he well knew, for the
last time. On the eighteenth of October, IGIO, he was
struck down in an Iroquois wigwam, and his blood
{>'2 insrniiY of WKSTroirr
cousecrateJ tlie soil of the "Mission of tbe Martvrs"
auioug tbe Mohawks.
Parkmaii thus desciibos the personal ajjpearance of
Father Jogues. "His oval face anJ the delic-ate njonld
of his features indicated a modest, thoughtful and re-
fined nature. He was constitutionally timid, with a
sensitive conscience and great religious susceptibilities.
He was a finished scholar, and might have gained a
literary reputation ; but he had chosen another career,
and one fi)r whicii he seemed but ill fitted. Physically,
however, he was well matched with his work; for,
though his frame was slight, he was so active that none
of the Indiiins could surpass him in running."
For a hundred years after the death of Father Jogues
we have no record of any event occurring within the
limits of our town. Dark forests, rushing streams,
fcteep cliff's or slo]~>ing shore, it was traversed by wild
beasts and wild men, fuinishing shelter and food to
both in the same degree. If any human liabitatiou
was known iiere it was that of some Iroquois tribe, but
it is not likely that t-ven the family life of a savage
went on under any tree of ours. This was the frontier,
as the boundary line between the northern Indians and
the Irocpiois was drawn through Rock Duuder, near
Burlington, about thirty miles to the north. This unide
of Lake ("hamplaiij iu>thing Imt a war-path, roamed
over by painted warriors who had left wives and chil-
dren in tiieir villages upon the Mohawk or the iSt,
Lawrence.
in STORY OF WKSTPOirr 83
]>at had there been eyes to see, luauy a sight worth
seeiuji;, many a si<:;ht to stir one's blood, to start a tear
or a (rry of rage, went past these shores. War-parties
of Frejich and Indians swejit by, upon the winter ice,
with snow shoes and sledges, or in fleets of bark
canoes in summer, returning again with trophies of
wretched prisoners and bloody scalps. Bands of Dutch
or English, always with their horde of Indian allies,
were sent out in retaliation for these forays, and but
r«versed the grim order. Thus, twenty years after the
death of Jogues, a nobleman of France, Lord de Cour-
celles, sent from the court of the king to goyern Canada,
with that thirst for wild adventure so aniyersal among
the French who came to the new world, made a winter's
march of three hundred miles into the country of the
I^Iohawks, with a party of six hundred men. Twice,
indeed, he went in the same year, once in January,
when our bay M'as frozen and the ice covered with four
feet of snow, and again in the still waters of September.
It was he and his men whose lives were saved by that
same Corlear who planned and carried out the
escape of Father Jogues. In all the blood}- story,
there is nothing that we might not better spare than
the record of the nobility of Areudt van Corlear, a
Dutchman of Schenectady. The next summer he too
]>assed b}-, going to Canada for a friendly visit to De
Courcelles, Perhaps he stopped to rest in Baie des
Koclies Fendu, and drank of the stream which runs
into it. But he never saw tlie place again, nor did he
if4 . ni STORY OF WFSTPOJH'
reach Catuula, but was drowneil "while crossin^i,^ a L-ii-e
bay," Avhich is believed to meau WiUsboro ba}"
The Schujleis ofteu looked upou our shores. la
1G90 John Schuyler, grandfather of that Philip Selmy-
ler of the Pvevolution who looked upou them oftoner
still, went down the lake to Canada, camping "a mile
beyoud Cruyn Puint," us he says, sturdify makin-
the name as Duteli as he was able, and then' returned
from a successful raid against the enemv. The next
summer Major Peter Schuyler met his Indian allies at
Crown Point, and went and returned likewise. To the
stretch of shore which we now call the lake front of
Westpo)-t, one war party was only like another, and we
need not give details of all.
History begins to close in around this bit of earth in
which our interest now centers, with the approach of
the first home life in the Champlaiu valley. This was
in the 3'rench \illage at Crown J.'oint.
The French took possessiiMi of the peninsula of
Crown Point and fortified it in liai. These were the
first fortifications ever built u]ion the lake, and this
act first made coloni^^atiou possible. A fort and a rra,-
rison of soldiers mean as much security as anv place
between Albany and Montreal could at that timeafi^.r.l.
A good stone fort, called Fort St. Frederic, (name.l
after the French Secretary of War, Frederic
Maurepas,) was built close to the water's ed-^t^
and thirty men were sent to keep it. Almost at the'
samo time came French colonists from Canada and set-
tled on both .1. ..s, as near the hut as possible. A
nisroRY OF WKSTPOur ss
little village lay poutll-^\■e^^fc of the fort, ou the shore of
the bay, with comfortable houses and barns. In
tweutv vears' time tliere v/ere fourteen farms occupied
within the j)rotection of Fort St. Frederic. All the
records of the time contain frequent reference to this
.-L'ttlement. Here, then, were near neighbors of West-
]><»rt, even thouprh Westport was not yet, nor would be
i.>r the space of another j];enevation. Doubtless the
hunters and trappers of the village hunted deer and
uioose, panther and bear, wolf and lynx, upon our ter-
ritory, and trapped the beaver and mink and otter upon
tlie Hammond and the Stacy brooks, and learned every
turn of our points and bays by heart.
The same year the French made a rough map of the
lake, which was perfected the next year, and is still
known as "the Quebec map." This was by no means
the first map made of this region, but it was the first
\vhich could be called complete.
The Iroquois were the most intellectual of all the In-
diiins known to the white men. Their mental capacity
was quite sntiicieut for the making and understanding
')f a rude map, if their necessities required it. We can
easily imagine some old and infirm chief, too feeble tf>
Ic-iid the young men of his tribe to the hunting grounds
or the battle fields of Cauiadare Guarante, tracing upon
the ground, or upon a sheet of birch bark, the outline
of these shores. In lattr days, after the coming of the
whites, such maps were sometimes preserved by being
woven into the pattern of a belt of wampum. But no
<loubt we may say that with the coming of Champlain
6^6' HISTORY OF WEST PORT
ill 1G09 came the first nin])-m;ikei'. His maj) of the
bike which he sent to France in 1G12 is the first cue
kuowii. After him, the Jesuit missionaries often drew
maps of their journeyings to make clear the reports
sent home to their superiors. But the first actual sur-
vey, with au}' claim to exactness, was made at the time
of the establishment of the first military post.
The French engineers did their work well, and the
Quebec map was a very good one. Upon it were based
grants of laud from the king, but we do not find record
of any portion of our soil being grauted to any individ-
ual by the French king. They named our bay, and
drew its outline with careful CNActuess, but had no
reason to penetrate the interior.
IT.
Fi'eiieli and iTidian ^Var.
Tlie lake was now no longer the battle-ground for
waning tribes of red men. The Iroquois and the
Huron still threaded tiie forest or paddled over the
water in pursuit of his enemy, with a ferocity unabatetl,
but now he went always as the emissary of English or
of French, sent out to further their schemes. Kings in
Europe desired conquest,- terrified colonies desired of
all things security from foes near at hand, and these
two forces drove onward in their course until they
brouglit aV)out the Fieucli and Indian war, so named
bv tiie English from the two foes against whom' thev
IIJSrORY OF WESTPOUT 87
r>ii^'ht. Not Uiat the French alone eniployeil Indian
nllios, for the Euglit;h used every means to brin^^ into
the tiehl those Indians who remained faithful to their
(MUg'^ notably the Mohawks under the inflaence of
AVilliam Johnson, — afterward Sir William, made a baro-
net as a reward for servi(?e dnrinf; this war.
In August of 1755 Baron Dieskau came from Canada
uith a large force of men in boats and canoes, rowing
up the lake to Crown Point, They came through the
Narrows, past the -Painted llocks, acroSiPi the bay to BlulV
point, past the light-house point, and so onward, land,
iug their fleet of boats in Bulwagga bay. The villagers
tlnoked to the landing to see, and the soldiers of the
garrison were drawn up and stood in military ar-
ray to receive the army of Dieskau. There were
a few hundred- of the wlijte uniforms of regulars from
France, the only efficient part of the arujy, as events
piuved. vs-itli a large force of tlio Canadian soldiery, and
Use Indian allies. The latter v/ere hideous in war-
paint and feathers, and insolent in their demeanor,
-swarming over the fort and the village, and looking
with especial awe at the cannon upon the ramparts,
which tiiey feared more than anything. Dieskau was
Ui'ver aide entirely to conceal his dislike of the savages,
and ihey would nev^ur do his will as they did that of
Johnson or of Frautenac.
Onward mm-ed the motley army, and on the eighth
of Septemlier the battle of Lake George was fought.
Then b^>gau to -come back straggling bands of Canadi-
ans, with some of the Vihit.^ couts, but jiot so many, as
88 HISTORY OF WEST PORT
the regulars iiloiie liad faced tlie enemy with steadiness
and they had paid dearly for their fidelity. All the fu-
gitives told one tale : Dieskau wounded and taken pris-
oner, the army routed, the English pursuing. It was
all true except the last, but Crown Point and Ticonde-
roga never doubted it. The swiftest rowers were hur-
lied instantly into boats with messages for Vaudreuil,
governor of Canada, and these messages in turn brought
reinforcements to the fort at Crown Point, and to the
entrenchments at Ticonderoga, now strengthened in
hot haste.
That v.as a winter of terror and danger at Crown
Point. TJie French held the fort in daily expectation
of an attack from tlie English, who lay at the head of
Lake George, continually sending out scouting parties
down Lake George and through the hills and forests
back of the ft^rts, to lie in ambush arid fall upon strng-
gler.s from the garrison.
Wiiile the two armies lay facing each other, with the
length of Lake George between them, the English at
the head of the lake, at Fort AVilliam Henry, and the
French at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, scouts were
constantly sent out from both armies to annoy the
enemy and to ravage all the frontier. On the part of
tlie French these scouts were mostly Indian.s. Their
mode of warfiue was ."x.-ietly suited to such a task, and
it was the only way in v. hich they were of any service
to the Fn-nch. us they almost invariably refused to
stand upof. th,. bafth- Ihdd. The English Jiad nobody
of Lidi.ui s-out-. but th. y had instead the corps of the
Ill STORY OF WKsrroirr sa
Nru- Hampsliiie Fv;ulOL■^•^^. The le;ulei- of these was one
IJitbert Ro^i'i'S, a brav and harJv man, who loved the
wuods and tlie woods^nian'y life. Tiievt- were aUo.
John Stark, who came from Rogers' own town of Londoii-
tltrry, Necs Hampshire, tind Capt, Israel Rntnam. from
Connecticut. AH the rangers were ])icked men, perfect
ill wood-craft and in the arts of forest warfare. Ito^-
cr.^. it is said, had been a smug<i;ler before the war, and
had smuggled French goods into the British colonies
through the Champlaiu valley. Thus he had learned
every turn of the .shores of the lakes, their islands, and
the mountains, streams and valleys as perhaps no other
niuii f>f his generation knew them. He and his com-
]iauions knew the shores of Westport as well as tl.ey
are known to-day. When the corps was formed, Rog-
ers was twentv-eight years old. and Stark was tweiity-
s»-\tu. Putnam was t)lder, being thirty-seven. Three
years Ijefore this time Stark had been carried through
tiie lake, a ca]}tive to the St. Francis Indians, and was
afterwanls ransome<l.
After this war was over, Rogers went toLcuulon, and
there printed his journal, ccuitaining an account of his
military service around Lake George ami Lake Cham-
plain. His regular re]>(irts to his superiors, usually ad-
• he.ssed to Sir W'illianj Johnson, Commander in Chief
f f the l^rovitcial Fences, have also been preserved, and
Hgree in all main points with the printed diary. It \^
interesting to notice indicati<ins of the man's character
ih the minor ditierences. Thus in his report to his su-
I'f-rior, made imnii-diately ;i[ter his I'etuni from a scout,"
00 IlISTORV OF WKSTPORT
.Mud ofteu signed by some of his officers as weW as by
himself, he gave due credit to each man for tlie part lie
liad taken in the duties and daugei's oi tlie expedition.
Bat in ilie printed journal lie is very likely to omit all
mention of the share taken by others in a daring deet''.
Thus iu his story of a scout to Crown Point, sent out in
October of 1755, when he and four of his men lay iu
ambusli near the fort, lie says : "About ten o'clock a
single man marched out directly towards our ambush.
When I perceived him within ten yards of me, I sprung
over the log and met him, and ofiered him Cjuarters,
which he refused, and made a pass at me with a dirk,
whicli I avoided, and presented mj^ fusee to his breast ;
but notwithstanding, hu still pushed on 'with resolu-
tion and obliged me to dispatch him."
In his report to Johnson there is no essential ditier-
ence to this, except that he says : "Then I with another
man ran up to him to capture him, but he refused to
take quarters, so we killcil him and took his scalp. i:i
plain sight of the fort, tht^n ran, and iu plain view,
about twenty rods, and made our escape."
Telling his story to tiie Londcni public, through his
book, it did not seem quite necessary to mention the
other man who helped him kill the Frenchman, much
less to give his name, which was, as we know frDin
other recu-ds, Ca}>t, Israel Putnam. On the other
hand, he felt it wise to leave out th3 little detail
of the scalping. It was always ditHcnlt to induce
the English peoj)le to look with any degree of favor
upon the i)racti.:e •.!' scalping, wh-thor done bv red m vu
f/iSTO/n' OF WKSTj'Oirr ui
or wliite, a> Bnr^'ovue fouiKl out some yetirs later.
l!ut iu a report to Johnson, who seemed himself to have
the very soul of an Indian, and whc» would most cer-
tainly have gloried in scalpin<^ the slain Frenchman
exactly as did Iionjors himself, it was quite a ditl'erejit
matter. In another place in his journal lioj^ers tells
of an Enp;lish soklier killed and scalped by the Indians,
remarkinp; piously in a parenthesis, '-such is their bar-
harous custom." Tlie truth is that all the Kmgers
njade war as ^ntich like Indians as possible, and
thonf];h it is all too dreadful for thought to dwell upon, it
is only right to remember that this retaliation in kind
was believed to serve a real juirpose in the intimidation
of the savages.
liogers and his men traversed the territory of West-
port, b}' laud or water, sis ditt'erent times, as told dis-
tinctly in his diary, in three scouts which went out from
the head of Lake George aiid returned. The first is
recorded in his Jouriial as follows :
"February 20, 175(5. — Agreeable to orders from Col.
Olasier," (then commanding at Fort William Henry,)
"I this day n)arched with a party of fifty-six men down
tlie west si<le of Lake George. We continued our route
liorthward till the fifth of March, and then steered east
to Lake Cljamplain, about six miles north of Crown
Point, where by the intelligence we had from the In-
dians we expected to find some inhabited villages. We
then attemfited to cross the lake, hut found the ice too
^veak. The 17th A\e returned and marched round bv
tJif bav to th-j west of Ciown Foint, and at night got
92 HISTORY OF WESirORT
into the cleared land among their houses and barus.
Here we formed au ambush, expecting their lal,>fnuers
out to tend their cattle and clean their graiu, of which
there were several barns full. Wo continued there that
night, and next day till dark; when discovering none
of the enemy, we set firu to the houses and barns, and
marched oft'."
The. route of this expeditiou was not like that of any
other scout sent out that year, as it v.eut farther vest
than any of them. Perhaps the Rangers went by way
of Schroou and the western parts of Crown Point and
Moriah, following down the valley of the Boquet until
Rogers' familiarity Avith the mountain passes showed
bim the best place to strike off to the shore of the lake.
It seems more probable that the little party came
along the highlands of Moriah to a place not far from
the present Mineville, and there turned ofi over
the north shoulder of Bald Peak, following down the
course of ]\Iulleiu l)rook as our "Raid Peak road" now
follows it. Tills would bring them (Hit at "Stevenson's."
"About six miles north of Crown Point" would mean at
the place where we now find the Presbrey camp, or Oak
Point. Here Roger.^ expected to find villages which
lie might burn, but either the Indians had deceived
him, or the inhal)itants had fled to tlie fort or to Can-
ada. If the Indians^ had t(.>ld the truth, and the latter
was the case, then liessl>()ro was inhabited before the
French and Indian war.
For tsVelve days the Piangois remained north of the
ft rt, piv Mimably uptu Westport territoiy. Why was
jiist(>i:y of wkstport os
)iot Ilo;Ters more descriptive iu regard to the dryings of
tlio^e twelve days? Did tljey discover Xielxils Puud '?
Did tliey stand by the falls of' the Boquet? Did they
raijip in sight of the island of Father Jogues ? If th-y
.iivl, we may be sure they knew little enough about
him, for these men of Puritan blood were taught no
svuipathy witli au3thing liiat savored of the Scarlet
Woman. I have no doubt that they tried to cross the
lake at Barber's Point, as that was the narrc.iwest place,
b.it the spring of 1756 must have been an earl}- oue,
since the ice was too weak to bear them in the middle
of March. If they could luive crossed the lake they
wcnild have saved themselves some hard mountain
traveling back to Fort William Henry.
Tlie second time that they came to Westport was
the next July, and this was one of the most exciting
scouts that the Piangers ever undertook.
"About this time," says* the Journal, the "General
augmented my c<:)uipany to seventy men, and sent me six
light whale bouts from Albiiuy, with orders to proceed
immediately to Lake Champ) aiu, to cut off, if possible,
the ju'ovisious aid flying parties of the enemy. Ac-
cordingly, June 'IS, 175G, I embarked with fifty meu in
live whale boats, and proceeded to an island in Lake
(ieorge. The next day, at about five miles distance
from this island, we landed our boats and carried them
about six miles over a mountain to South Bay, where
we arrived the third of July. Tlie fcjllowing evening
we embarked again, and went down the bay to
within six miU-s of the FrciK-h Uivi, wh.'rn we coiK^^aled
94 HISTORY OF WKSTPORT
our boats till the eveuiug. We then embarked again,
aud passed by Ticonderoga undiscovered, though we
were so near the enemy a^ to hear their ceutry's watcli-
word. About five miles further dov,'u we agaiu con-
cealed our boats and lay by all day. At night we put
oft' agaiu, with a design to pass by Crown Point, but
afterward judged it iniprudeut by means of the clear-
ness of the night, so lay concealed ar;ain the next day,
when near a hundred boats passed by us, seven of
which came very near the point where we were. About
nine o'clock at night we reirabarked, and passed the
fort at -Crown Point, and again concealed our boats at
about ten miles distance from it." That is, very prob-
ably, upon the point south of the Baie des Roches Fen-
dus, which we now call Bluff point. They drew up
their boats just "at break of day," having goue as far
as they dared in the short summer night.
The boats were conecnled in the underbrush friug
ing the shore, while the men slept under the trees
all day. Sentinels were posted where they could
command the lake, and never keener eyes peered
out from the thick hjliage, nor quicker ears list-
ened for every sound. Watching was no dull business
on that day, (the seventh of July,) for thirty boats hom
the French forts went by toward Canada, aud a schooner
of about thirty or hu'ty tons. The Kangers were too
near Crown Point to dare an attack, aud besides, it
was their especial purj^oso to intercept boats coming
from Canada, laden with provisions. All day they
slei)t aud watclKMl, a:ul in the evening slid their boats
iiisTom' or w'KSTro/rr .v.5
i:!t(. the water tiiul rowed .-nvay to the ututh. "About
i'fti'eu luih.s further tlown," which was somewhere he-
twecu Split Rock and the mouth of the luxjuet, tliey
hiiJileJ again. The next (hiy they had their oppor-
tuuitv. Two lighters, maimed with twelve men and
headed witli wheat, tiour, rice, wine and brandy for the
I'^'eueli forts, were captured and suuk, and four of the
ue-u killed. One of these was dispatched after having
been made prisoner, when it became plain that he was
wciunded so sevei'ely that he was unable to walk. This
fact Rogers did -not i>arade before his London audience,
i;or that they took back with them four scalps as well
its eight prisoners to Fort William Henry, but it wa8
all duly reported to his chief.
It was learned from the prisoners that they belonged
to ;i force of live hundred men, whicli was making its
xwiy as rnpidh- as ])ossiV»le to Crown Point. Fifty men
cduld not face five hundred, and if the}- launched their
!'>'ats they were sure to be seen and pursued. Now ap-
pears the reason why they had always landed for con-
ct-alment upon the western shore, — so that if they were
<^'bliged to abandon their boats they might return to the
hat through Uiountaiu })aths familiar to them but un-
ktiown to tlie enemy. So they hid their boats in the
vi' 'I'ds, with some kegs ()f brandy which they had saveil
froui tlje cajitured lighters, and made their way l:>ack to
tiie head of Like G-orge, being about a week on the
w ay.
It was now necessary that another ex))edition should
I ' iindeitaken to recover tlie boats ajid the brandv,
96 HISTORY OF WE ST PORT
if possible. Accordingly, on t]\e sixteeiitli of Aupjust,
the third and last scout of this year Avliich traversed
Westport laud set out from Fort William Heury. It
weut in two departments, one commanded by Kogers
and the other by Stark. They were also accompanied
by thirty of the Stockbrid«.^e Indians, who had lately
come into camp, and by eight Mohawks. "We then
raaiched," says Kogers, "directly to the place where we
left our whale boats the seventh of July, proceeding
about twenty-five miles northward to Crown Point fort
on the west side of Lake Champlaiu." They found the
boats as they had left them, though no mention is made
of the brandy. Perhajis even the civilized Stockbridge
Indians could not be trusted within reach of liquor, and
surely no Mohawk could be, even on the war-path.
They embarked in the boats, which proves that the
party could not have numbered more than fifty men,
unless some of them \\ore sent back by land. Tliev re-
turned safely up the lake, but this time no perilous pas-
sage of the forts was attempted. Tho French had re-
ceived reinforcements since the Kaugershad passed them
before, and perhaps a better watch was kept. At any
rate, we may trust llogvn-s and Stark to have umh.'r-
stood what were tho chances of success, and they did
not undertake it. Besides, they had as yet no prisonei,
and this was one bf the main objects oi every scout,
both as a means of obtaining information, and to render
themselves constantly feared amotig the French settle-
ments. So they landed on the east shore, hid their
boats eiglit luil.'s n-nth of Cr<nvn. Paint, and succeeded
HISTORY OF WK ST PORT 97
in taking some prisonevs in the village on Chimney
r.)int, opposite the fort, with whom they returuetl.
The ]laiigerj4 never recovered their boats. On Oc-
toher twenty-seventh a sentinel was captured under the
very walls of FortTiconderoga, who told them "that the
French had taken four of Captain Rogers' whale boats
in Lake Champlain," which does not account for
tho fifth boat. Tlie discovevy of these boats tinew the
French into a great state of dismay and consternation.
'Jhey were no birch bark canoes, but large and well
made craft, each one capable of carrying ten men, and
tlio French reasoned that it was manifestly impossible
tiiat such a flotilla ci)uld have escaped the observation of
the sentinels at the two forts. "Therefore," said they,
"there must be some water passage, unknown to us,
which leads from Lake George to Lake Champlain."
.\nd they sent out parties with the express purpose of
discovering this passage.
After this, the power of France pushed more and
more determinedly from the north, the forts were more
strongly garrisoned, and the Rangers had more to do
ii^-ar their own posts. Consequently, none of their
-^couts reached again as far north as the soil of West-
l.ort.'
The winter ()f 1757 saw a force of Canadians and I:i-
'lians go by on the ice, dragging sledges, and well
••'luippedfor an attack on Fort William Henry — the af-
fair of St. Patrick's Day. Then it came back, toiling
through three feet of snow, a large numljer of the party
--truck snowljjiud andlt'dby the hand, v^'itli no jn'isoners
9S HISTORY OF WESri'OJiT
hiul no vietuiy wortli boasting. Bat the nest suiuaur
came serious busiue?;s indeed.
Up to this time, no such army had ever pas>;(;d
throuf,di Westport waters as that which Montcalm
gathered at Ticonderoga during the month of July.
Six thousand white men and two thousand red, moved
on to the siege and massacre of Foit William Henrv.
Let us.be thatdcful tliat it is no part of our storv to
tell over again that tale. Only in one particular does
it come within our circle of interest. It may be tliat
William Gilliland was present at that massacre.
Says Watson, in "Pioneers of the Ohamplaiu Valley,"
"the 26th regiment of the line, to which Gilliland was
attached, formed the ill-fated garrison of PVjrt WilliaUi
Henry in 1757, which suffered so fearfully in the mas-
sacre by the Indians under Gen. Montcalm. Whether
Gilliland v.-as {>rosent at tliat ca,lamitous event I have
no means of ascertaining, but his silence ('>u such a sub-
ject warrants the presumption that he was not."
It is like Watson's grave punctiliousness that he re-
fuses to state as a fact anything wliich cannot be absr.-
lutelv })roviHl, but surely the probabilities are great that
Gilliland was theie. His discharge, given at Philadel-
phia in 17.>S, certifies that "William Gillilau hath served
honestly and faithfully for the space of four ^-ears.'' It is
well known that <iillihind received a grant of laud near
Split Piock in return for his services in the "Old French
War," an.l that his tirst acquaintance with the sh(M-e.-
of Lake Ghamplain dates fiom the time \vhen he was
a soldi. M- in th.^ I'-riti^h aimv. Put ''luav have" and
IIJHTURY OF WE.srrORT 90
"u'")t impossible" are not very satisfactory substitutes
for liistory. ^Yllat we do know certaiuly is that after
the surreuder and tlie massacre, for many a sad day,
these shores saw the hake full of boats laden with plun-
der from the garrison and with hundreds of captives
ht-in^ hurried aw;iy to Canada. Oaly a week after the
massacre Montcalm himself went by, carrying his bur-
den of threatened disgrace, and leaving the frontitn- to
a winter of little incident. The nest Juno he came
again, but the fleet that covered the water, rowing auil
-^ ailing onward in martial array, carried an army not so
large as that of the summer before. In July was fought
the Battle of Ticonderoga, where four thousand men
i)ehind entrenchments said to sixteen thousand, "Thus
far and no farther," and tlien Montcalm sailed past
once more, and looked his last upon our nn^uutaius and
our bay.
After the repulse of Abercrombie, Israel Putnam
was captured by the Indians in a skirmish, and carried
to Canada, liound with cords he went, blackened with
the smoke of the tiro which the savages had built to
I'uru him alive, only giving up their purpose upon the
intervention of a French officer, with afresh gash upon
his cheek, but still looking with eager eyes and una-
bated spirit upon the freedom of our hills. If his cap-
tors camped for a uigiit u[)Oii the island of Button
Mould Bay, I'utnam might have had a vision, as he lay
slt.'cping beneath the stars, with the sound of the lap-
ping water in his ears, of another century, and of a de-
scendant of his own ujxj-n the same inland, slf^eping
100 niisTuiiY OF WESTJ'ujrr
witli the same souiul woveu into the fabric of bis
dreams. In the autumn the hardy Ranger was ex-
changed, and lived to' fi^lit Eughind as fiercely as ever
he fought France.
Another year, and Amherst advanced upon Ticonde-
roga from the south. On the evening of July 26, 1759, a
teri*ific explosion resounded over lake and forest for many
& league. Boulamarque had blown up the fort at Ti-
conderoga and retreated to Crown Point. Here he did
the same thing, and moved away to the north, and with
him went the domination of France from our laud and
water. Never again iioated the flag of the fear de lis
from the bastions of St. Frederic. The villagers, who
liad suffered so much from the bullet and torch of tlie
Rangers, either loaded their household goods into
bateaux and f(jllowed the army, or chose to remain an 1
face the chances of life under the cross of Sc. George.
Amherst came deliberately on, and stopped to build
a new fort and a fleet at Crown Point. Then were
raised the mas-,ivt: )amparts and the barracks whoso
ruins we now see. It i^^ a fort which never saw a battle,
and has never been of any military consequence since
it was built. Had Amherst knoWh that he was sim])!y
fashioning a background for Sunday School picnics!
But it is not always given us to know to what uses our
work shall be put, and Amherst v;:is well satisfied with
his. To no m<>ro ]nu-p<»se was his ileet of boats, for
which lu! turni'd Bulw.igga bay into a ship-yard, as did
Arnold aft.^r liim. On the eleventh of October Aui-
h'.nst wer.t "ii board hi-i >.lo )]> of sixteen guns and, iic-
HISTORY OF WhSr/'Oh'T lol
(•(.ini)aijied by a brij^antiue. a radt-au aiul his ariny iti
lar^e bateaux, set fortli for the support of Wolfe at
(^>aebee. Ten days after, and he is seen returning, hav-
ing h)st twelve boat-loads of sohliers in an inglorious
hattle with the elements. There had been one of our
Autumn gales, and the boats, probably very badly
manaj^ed, had foundered, while the rest of tlie fleet had
S'Uif^ld shelter under the western >;horc. Perhaj^s some
of the rear boats got no farther than Northwest Bay.
Andierst made no further attempt to join Wolfe, and
(^)uebec was taken without him Septemlier 18th, 175*.'.
Montcalm and Wolfe were both killed, and the war was
]iractically ended.
Fighting in the British army at this time was a man
with a remarkable. history, by n;ime Philip Skene. He
^^as a Scotchman, and a lineal descendant of ^Villiaiu
Wallace. He entered the army in 1739, and had a
most active and honorable record. He was in many
battles, the most famous of which was that of Culloden,
174-'). when the hopes of the last Stuart pretender,
'Bonnie Prince Charlie," were laid low. He was a
ciptain in the army of Abercrombie in the attack upon
Tii'Duderoga, July 8, 175G, and was there wounded.
His regiment was the 2Tth, or the luuiskilling Foc»t.
The next year he was with the army of Amherst when
it marched into the dismantled and smoking fort atTi-
comleroga, and he accompanied it to Crown Point.
When, in October, Amherst set out with the main body
of his army to join Wolfe in Canada, Skene was left
102 jfJSTORY or WESrrORT
beLiiul, detailed to serve as Major of Brigade at Crown
Point under Brigadier Iluggles.
Tlius Skene had every opportunity to become ac-
quainted with the shores of the lake, especially at the
sonthe)-n end, and it was no doubt while he was sta-
tioned at Crown Point that he learned the value of the
iron luinc on the lake shore which we now call "the
Cheever," and which he took measures to secure to
himself as soon as j^ossiblo at the close of the war. AVe
do not know that this bed was discovered at all during
the French occupation. Skene was the first to own
and to work it, and its name for a generation or more
Mas "Skene's Ore Bed." He founded Skeuesboro in
17G1. In 1771 he was granted two thousand four hun-
dred acres of some of the best land in Westport, which
is known to this day as "Skene's Patent." We mav be
sure that he first saw it that summer of 1759 which he
si)cnt at Crown Point, and that he rowed along its
shore in Northwest liay, looking at it with calculating
eyes, and walked over it, too, thinking how he would
ask for a gr;int of it as soon as ever it canie into the gift
of the King of England.
Israel Putnam was also at Crown P^int that summer,
a captain in the colonial troops, and while the arrnv
still lay there Bogers went down the lake again for the
last time, d..-stroying the Indian village on the St.
FrauL-is river in Catuula. He came back to Crown
Point by way uf the Connecticut river, but one of his
lieutenants, McMuIlin, with eight men, returned through
the wilderne^.-, tu Crown Point with a message to Am-
HISTORY OF Wh'STJ'O/rr Jo.j
li,n>t. Ill ouly uino days they maJe the journey, an>l
thus for the last time was our soil traverse*.! by a baud
of liOt:!;ers' Pvangers.
Would that we iiiitjjht believe that brave Lieuteuant
Ab;l\rulleij, (or McMulliu. as Watson uses b»)th spell-
ings,) gave his uatue to our ]Mullein brook as did Israel
rntnani to "Put's creek" in Crown Point. Metliinks
1 have seen an amateur genealogist hail with joy the
iliscover}- of a new ancestor on the strength of eAideuce
a.-s slender as tliat which we can bring forward in sup-
port of this theory. "What more likely," etc., etc. At
any rate, we might do a little toward making history
more logical, (a service which it often sadly needs,)
••^s})ecially in the matter of the names of places, by call-
ing the brook after him uow.-^
Let Watson describe for us the last scene of this war.
"On the IGth of August, 1760, the last brilliant mar-
tial procession of the war departed from Crown Point.
pM-aring ;ibont three thousand reguhirs and provincials,
under the comnniud of Colonel Haviland, it moved
down the lake in a hnig line of bateaux, under the con-
voy of f<->ur armed vessels with an equal number of
radeaux, each of which bore a heavy armament,
llichard Montgomery, who had already' attracted the
attention, and won the applause of Wolfe, at Louis-
bourg, accompanied this expedition, as adjutant of the
Seventeenth regiment (*)f foot,"t
•In one of Gilliland's list* of the tiamea of soldiers who received from the crown
grants of land on the western side of Lake Cham plain, we find the name of Patrick
McMuilen, thoaeh it it imposbible to decide the locality of his grant.
rTfac Treaty of Paris, in 1765, j^avc Engly.nd fo/u!.'.! posseisiou of this our soil
• ^^'4 . II f STORY OF WKSTl'ORT
III.
Oillilancl and liossboro.
On tlune 7tli, 1765, our shores were j^assed by Gilli-
laiuVs first i>arty of colonists. Many an annv \uu\
made \i>i way across these waters, but never before siu-h
an army of oocnpatiou. Ilou.ely and huudrum it mu.t
liave lor.kt.d in cotuparison to tlie -orofous "armL-.s
Avitli banners" who had Haunted such nuartial pugeantrv
m the shadow of our dills. There were four hu-l
bateaux, heavily loaded witli twenty or more people,
and with "eighty barj-els of stores."' T.'iere was also a'
raft of boards, sawed at the saw-mill at Tioondeio^a,
.'UKl there was a dicve of cattle which had been forc^ed'
to swim the lake at Cnnvn P.,int, making its way ulon-
the opposit,. .hor... Thi.s proves that at this tinie ther".-
Mas no road across AVestport fit for driving cattle
thiough. 'Jlu-re wcie four white women with the eol-
f,ni.sts,-the uito of the millwright, the wife of the
^^eav..r. GiUdand-s housekeeper, and an indentured
servant gi,l. Clilliland's negro man, Ireland, had been
left for a t\.w days at Ticonderoga. His was the fir.^t
bhiek face which h.ok.-d upon A\Vst],.n-t, but there weiv
afterw^ird others at Miilt<uv,i. Slaves played a htrg.r
KnjUnd held U^.st twenty y«rs. ^^^P^c^lTo^^^sTTirl^i^t^ri^oi^. Uk;r.^
ofT.condcr»^aby Ethan A.lcn a:,d Rcn.dict Arnold. After that it may be sa.d
to have b..on^cd to .'the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress" uo.il C-..
r>na!.cttlc..,tof:.eV......;..a,„,y,,i„ ,.^_ ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^.^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^
It hii belo.nte'. to tnc .stjie cf .Ncv,- Vo.-k.
ifiSTojn' OF ]]'!■: sTroirr jo.-,
I>;ivt ill tlie labor of eleariiij.; our l:uuls for settlement
tL.'Ui is ofteu realized, since the foii idlers C)f Pl;ittsbui-gli,
;i> well as Gillilaiitl, bionght numbers of shnes with
llif'u when thev first eanie.
Ihit who w'iis GilliLuid, anil wliy is his i;ame invoked
witli such confidence? William GilHland. dear strau,L:!;er,
u.is none other than the Pioneer of tlio Champlain Yal-
It'V, the first settler and colonizer in. all this wilderness
between Crown Point and Canada. After the settle-
ment around the military- p(»sts of Ticonderoga and
Ciiiwn Point, and the cohmy at S]cenesl)oro at the ex-
tM-me southern end of the hd-;e, his settlement at the
mouth of the Boquet river (uhich he cahed ]Millto\vn.
nin.'iup; the township AVillsboro) was the first haiue of
whili- men in all the length and breadth of th.e Valley.
'llius the dav just namerl mav well begin a new cha]i-
I'-i. and the rude little licet engage our attention as it
Idiitrs s >brrly along. We may know all the details of
tie' expedition from reading Gilliland's diary, preserved
I'V his der,cend<iiils and printed a iiuudred vears after-
NNard by Winshnv C.. Watson, in a book calle.l The Pi-
"U-'fr History of the (.'hamplain A alley. From this
b-.,,k we leain that A\'iliiam Gilliland was, like Sir
^\ illiam Johnson, Sir Cray Caileton and Jiiehur<l
Montgomery. ;in Iri.^hman. Ht^ was born neai" Ar-
'''■igh, iij the ])rovin('e (;f lister, about the year
1 •••b There is a roinantie storv of an interrupted lovi-
i'tlair with a young and b.-autiful Tady ];ets\ Eekles.
Iiouii'-d upon h\ lit'i- family, and resnbing in the emi-
l^iatifij of t))e J'iesUiiiJ'Uloiis lowr to Ameiiea, Jlere
I'lr, IIIXTunv (IF WKSTIUiHT j
\
he sorvt^d four }t';ii-s as ;i private in tlit- lii'itisli ai'itiv, J
tii^htiiij.' ill the FitMieh aiul Itnliau War. ITis ip^iiiiciit. |
the Thiity-tit'th, fonneil a ])arL of tlie gaiTi.S(M> of Fort I
William Henry ;it the tiiDi.^ of its surn-nclor to ^Montcalni, ]
iu 17.~)7. If he. was with his ropi;iin»;Ht at the time, In ]
must have liemi a witness of the Indian iiuiss-u.-r.- j
whieli followe.l the surrender of the f<.rt. He wa- |
<liseh;'r^:;t>d from th« arm\ iu IToS, and the next yt;ar \
married Elizab 'th l^hai^an, daui^hterof a rich merch;iut \
of Jamaica. Gilliland received with his wife a cousid- |
erable dowry, aud V)ecame his father-in-law's partner i;; i
a lai-^^e nitneantile business in the city of New York. \
Peace hetweeu En.^land and France was jn'oclaiine.l \
ill IT'):], and it b<-'came possil)le for tlie liritish crouii j
to «:;ivo title to tlie nnoecnpied lands of the wildiunes-; !
north and west of th..' Hnds.m river valley. Enji^ra- \
ti(Ui was eiieouraL-;ed l)y grants of land to soldiers of tli.- \
ret-ent wai-, the si/.(- ol the giants vai'yiriij;- accordim^- to i
the military rank of thi; j-eeipients. Thus a private r>- «
ceived tiity aer.'s, and ;; non-eommiHsioned otiirer tv,o ,*
hundi-eil aci-es. In almost everv case these soldiers' 1
{grants we-re sold iminH,li,itely to land speculatoi's, mei. j
of capita! who !)on-ht with tlu- i)urpose of obtainiuL^ j
lar-e tiaets for sale or settlenuajt. William Clillihuid 1
iiive.Nt.'d the u'ri-att-r jiart of the tortune he had aceuiii-
ulated in tiiH pureha-e of twelve large tracts, all lorat.-d
on th'> \\;,-.r.ri) shore of i.ake C'hamplain, between
Crown Point and C'uiul r'rhnid Mead. Two of the^.'
tracts, aeeording to .Mr. W.itson, lav within the ))reseiit
t-'uitoiy of >,ui' touii-^hip, and coaipris.-d four tin ui^^an^l ,.
HISTORY OF wi:srr<)irr Ktr
five Iniinlred acres. One tract, lying along tin- soutli-
t-astern shore, and containg two thousand tlivce hundred
;ic-res, he named ]3essbor(;, after his baby daughter
J!li/.al)eth. Of lii> ow nership of a second tract in West-
j).)rt we caunot uonv tind theleast trace, but it seeras ex-
ceedingly likely that he attemiited to purchase the
land adjoining Dessljoro on the north, gra.uted a few
years afterwa rd_ by the king to Philii) Skene. Tiie uuni-
bc-r of acres in the Skene patent does not esactlj- cor-
r(.sj)(>ud, bat the early surveyors never let a little matter
of two or three hundred acres trouble them. Oilliland
himself gives a list of f(;urteen non-commissioned ot^i-
c•er^ and ten privates whose claims he had bought out
to obtain possessi(;n of the [latent of Bes^boro, appar-
t-ntly oblivious of the'discrepaucy of a thousand acres
btfweeu these aggregate claims and tlie actual survey.
The king granted 'ownershi[) of these large patents
v> ith the reservation to himself of ;dl gold and silver
niines, uud all jiiun trees lit iov masts for shijis of his
navy. There were also conditions that three acres out
of every fifty caj'iabh- of cnlti\ation should be tilled,
H ith settlers in the proportion of one family t(j eveiy
tiiousand acies.
Thus We com ' at last to the first indi\idual owner-
>"hip of any part of Westport land. Uessboro was first
>urveyed, as appear^ from (iiUiland's own papers, in
•June of 17()-t, by Col. Thomas r.-dmer, Deputy Survey-
or, acting by order «jf Alexander Colden, Es(]., the then
i^urveyor General. The work was doiie at the expense
•■1 (filijland, a!iJ he apJ'ear.-> to ha\e ai-couipauied the
J"'"^ iifsToh'v OF WKSTroirr
surv.niun; pnrh-, hn hitnsHlf Wm^^ a coiDpetent sur-
veyor. T]u( survey "])a^se.l eouuoil the 2()th Febv..
1765, a.s per council niiuute book may ap[)ear/'
Thus it is ))laiu that the First Year of our town chro-
nology is ]7Gf, aii^ our J^rst Day is that one in Jun..
■when Gilh'land and Pabiier, with their axenuu, carryin- 1
chain and compass, iV^li-Aved tJie outline (^f Bessboro j
throu-h \W'. unbn.krn forest from .)ur JJlulfFoint wt-.t- \
ward, tlieu south, then west a>;-ain to the foot of the |
mountains, and so down t„ our Ahdlein brook, wliieh I
they called Beaver l)ro.>k, ami back to the lake shore I
ai^ain, coming out of the woods very nearly at the phice 1
readied by Bogers and his Bangers, in March of ITon. \
(only eight years before), when they were seeku.-
French villagt:-s to buin,— plans diflerent indeed to j
those of Gilliland. He had encon)passed a stretch nf I
land as fair and tVrtih: as any in \\)ii w.ndd, rolling from I
the lak*. sh<.v,- to the fMut of the n.onntains, well wa- I
tered, richly wnod.d. rhw. ,n,drr the protection of th.- I
f'Ut at ^'i"vn j',,i,;r,an.lifrverab.'anti;ulim)siuH-thad |
l>ower to tourh an hi.h heart, how must . his hav,' I
swelled with joy as h.. m.'asun.l these acres for him- \
self. And though In,^ gain.-.l no riches fron. its \
l.o<Sessi.,m, h)sinu it all l,..fon,- he .lied, vet it ha> j
l^"n.e hi~, nan,,-, and the name he gave it, for <nje hun- |
dr.'d and thirty-,-iuht yars, as we write now, and i. \
like I., p-p. tu;t,' his m.-mory :us long as land is namnd |
by nniii. Tin' u ir ►jo ..xt,,,t of the patent is now highlv \
.M,ltivat.-d, l.-tl.-d with b:.rn^ and f arudn.uses, and U'av-
-r-d iron, n u-.h l..>,.u.h b'. th,. railroad.
iiisToin' OF WKsrroirr jou
After thorif'volntioii, wIk-u all latnl titifs (k-iivcd IVoiu
(lie Jiritisli ei-()\\n wcno tliiowii iiit(MU(>i>' «»i' Lss confus-
\<^\\ ami micc^vtaiiitv, Gillilaiul had -ifat ditlit-ulty in oh-
tainin<^ recogi)itic>n of his vi^lits as ownei' of ]5ossl.)oiu.
IJr.t at last a nowsurvey was urilorcrl.aud he vt'ceived his
title from the state iu 1780. In the capitol at Albauy
\'w the liehl notes of this secoml siuvev. A certified
I'^iiy of theui, as well .u^ a eojij of a :na[) of Jit^sslxiro,
aKi) eertitlml, (showing the shaj-)e of the ]>atent as out-
hiied u{>on the niaj) op[)osite oai" title-page,) was sent
me by the kindness of the Hon. "William Pieison Jud-
.-o!i, Deputy State l-3ugineer. As th-- held notes C(jn-
>titnte a description of the boandaries of the patent,
and have never been printed, the}' are givtjn in a note.""-'
'J lie }>'iut <.)f ih'partnre of the survey was "a hemlock
ti.-e standing on the bank of the lalce," and the only
nanu-s given are tho.se of "Bay de lioche Feudu" and
"a place known by tlu' name of llatt lesnake Den." This
niust have been m-ar the Hniestone ([.aairy, and not fai
fron) the spot wlune the Y. M. C. A. boys camped for
•In consequence of a Warrant of Survey from the Surveyor General of
the State of New York, to be directed, bearing date the — day of November,
17V', I hive performed the following Survey for William Gilliland, of a certain
Tract, piece or parcel of Land, Situate, lyinp and bein;; in the County of Washing,
ton, and on the W«st side o£I..nke Chainplain, known by the name of Bt-th-Bor-
.ouxh.
Began September 24th, 17S6, at a heap of Stones lying between a Black Oak
Tree, marked Z. P. lyS/^— W, G. 178^, eight links east from a Hemlock Tree
iiiarked Z. P. 173/^— W. G. 178^, Standia-nn tlie Bank of said Lake, between a
pl.ice known by the name of Habile Snake Den, and the Bay de Roche Fendu, on
the south side of the entrance of said Bay, v, hich is tlie most easterly corner of a
Tr<ct of 2(0O Acres of Land, crranted to Major Philip SUeen.
Kunning thence on a South line of said Skeen's Patent, S. So derf. o]', W. 41
i hiins lo a Stake t''irttV-n link* WeMfroni a Beech 'J'ree cornered and markL*d Z. P.
i]o n/ST(>L'v OF wFsrroirr
s*) ijiaiiy years on the Wonnaii |)ropo)ty. I cannot tuid
that any r.ittlesnake has botMi seen there for at h^ast tli^-
space of one <4encration, but the name brings out vividly ^
the wild IcMieliness of tlie shore when the surveyors
tirst stt'|)ptHl n[)()n it. .Vn e])Ofh is Inark^?L] in the his-
tory of the reehun;ir,iou of ;i |iiiH-e of land from the wil-
derness wh.;n the names ^iv.-u to points within it are no
h)nf?er those of natural objects. 'Ihis ep<,)eh came to
Westport when Gilhland named his patent after his
daughter.
Happy is that land whose lirst setthn-s have a genius
for nomenclaUne I And if tliis be so, haj^py is the land
whose second century shall honor the name-giving
of the }i)st. William Gilliland was blessed with a good
name hims-df, a fact of souie importance wh(ni history
comes to be written, and the names wliich he gave to
places wer-' always graceful and i)ertinent. Before tli'-
coming of I'^Ji/abetli his wife he had named the present |
site of Er,s,.\ village after her, and two of his northeiai |
patents weif named Jaiiesboro and Charlotteslioro. |
17S6— \V. G., tlicncc S. oj Ueg. 56' E. (y\ chains to a sUke eighteen links southeast 1
from a Beech Tree cornered ;ind marked Z. P. 1736— W. G„ beinjf the Southeast I
corner of said Skean's Patent, thence S. S9 deg-. o4' \V. 156 chains 60 links to :-■ j
Beech Tree marke.i \V, G. lyS'i, thence Sauth igr chains to a Birch Tree marked %
\V. G. i7Sfi, staiiciinj; on the north bounds of a small Tract of two hundred Acre> \
of I^^and sarvcyeu for /cphani.ih Piatt, Esq., thence East along the North Boun.'.s \
of said Tract of two liandred Acres, 80 chains 60 links to a Hemlock Tree markei ^
/.. P. 17V.— \V. G., standinor on the Bank of the Lake, thence Northerly alonor :he I
West B.mk of s.iid 1-ake as it winds and turns to the place of Beyinnlno^, contain- J
in(f i^vo Acre* of,Ljnd, and the usual allowance for Highways. 5
That the within Survey has been performed with accuracy to the best of r.iy i
knowlcdjjc I a\cr and attest. 5
(Signed) )ON'AS S. ADDOMS, '
D. G, Surveyor.
lusTom' or wKSTPDirr m
Awx two ilau^liters. A branch of tlie Au>;al)le wliirh
In' (li-^coveroJ lie named "Cnlleii A\'ater." Many of the
V, ttifi\s at IMiJltown pjivo nanios to tlieir farms, (nif lie-
in.: }uiniskt'Uin<; and another KiUeen, showing tleli^'lit-
fi;lly thy Irisli origin of the tenants. Tlie name of
MilUoun itself was doubtless taken from that of a vil-
I'lL't' not far from Armagh, in Irehind, where GilHland
u;is born, and there is a AVillsb(>i(> on Lou^h Fo\le, in
Londonderry, whicdi he mu.-t have known familiarly.
i').-vboro is also au Irish name, f-lnce there is an estate
ia the simtli of Ireland, '"a demesne in tiie Barony of
Iverk, })aris!i of FiiUUown, C'<mnty Kilkenny," near the
ri\er Suir, whieli was granted to Sir John Ponsonby, a
."^Lijor in the army of Cromwell, and named by him
b.-ssborou^h for his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Henry
Lord Foliot. The hi.^hest title of tlie Ponsonby family
i- tikeii from this Irish estate, John George p.rabazon
i'o!i.M)nl>y beiuL,^ made first Earl of Bassboroui:^h ^i n
17:)'.). ^luch jdeasant but profitless labor has been
^pent in tlie efYort to trace som<; connection l)et\veen
^••vorn before ine this
ii Day cf December, 17S6.
(Signed) ABRAHAM KEIGHT, Jus. Peace.
AecoiTipanying tlie copy of these tieid notes is the folIo%ving document:
STATK OF NEW YORK.
(Jr «C2 OK THE StATK ENGINEER AND SURVEYOR.
I have compared the preceding^ copy of Field Notes of survey of Lot number —
i-i the — Tract, with the description of survey found in book number 10, p. nv. on
'■•c :o this office, and I do hereby certify the same to be a correct transcript there-
froin and of the whole of the field notes of survey of said lot.
WiTNE.sa my hand and seal of ofrice of the State Ensriiieer and Survtvir, at the
City of Albany, the eisfht day of April, one thousnnil nine hundred and one.;
vSigncJ) \VM. PIERSOX JUDSON.
Dc, I'.ity Sc.ite E^tfineer and SLirveyor,
'^'- iiisTijuY or wrsrroirr
(lillilaml an.] the Irish D.^sshoiDuu'li, but it seoms [Um!,-
ahle that tlio iiaiiic only lay in his memory with thos..
nf all .,th..r places in tho Knierahl Isle, to be brought
forth uh.-h his own foitniK's roiieh.;.] a point where !;•■
too mi-ht ;^ive a nnmt^ to a l.nronao-e or a principality.
Now h't usi>>tuni to the naiaative of ev.'nts el'stlv
affecting our history. 'J'h-' iit-xt year, in Jnue of ITfJi;.
C;i!Iilan.i brought his family to Militown. They start.-!
fr.Mn N-w Yoik on the 'iSth of A()ril, in two heavijv
loa.lea l)ateau\, and liad a <!itrionlt and |>erilous pas-
sage. At Stillwater one of the bateaux was upset, and
two cinhb>ii were drowiunl, .^]ie of thmi Gillihuid'^
oldest chihl, Jauf', aged sIk y.-ar.s. ":Mv lovely daugli-
terl" exclaims (Jilliland as he records the disaster in
his diary, and he mourns his loss iu u touching eulogv
ujion the chihTs i.erffctioiis.
They caaie by way of Like G.?orge, t detained at
Then follo.v s t:.e f;rc:it lA-o.V r< c! s.al of tl.e State of New Yo7k7"of~araTpect
awesome indeed, and s..ffici.-nt, one wo.Ud think, to command belief in statements
much more doabtfi:! than these.
It w;!l be noticed ih.i: the n.iine of the patent is variously written. GiUihind h,n..
self wrot.it Bcssborou;.^,. and in the Held notes the surveyor writes it, certa^n-y
wuh a ^rca: effort. "Be-h-BorrouKh." I.n our town records it is "Bettsborouvjh."
On Burr's map of the county. .S^.^. jt is '•Bossborough." and in an act of the Le--
. .slature of ,^9 it is "Bassburgh." but these two forms are evidently misprints.
Hon. Richard K. Hand, of Elizabethtown, President of the Essex County His-
torical Society, has called my attention to a "Bc.borough" in north-eastern Ver-
mont. Iy>n< on both sides of the I'assamsick river, which is shown on Sauthier's
map of .77V. It wo.ihi he interesting' to know the hi,lory of the name in that place.
Tin that ch3rn,in^iit<leb,ok. "Lake Georj^e in History." by ElizabetJi Esrgle-
Mon bcc'.ye. a:lu,.on i., made to the pas.a^fe of Baroness Riedtsel and Lady Har-
net Acklandthrou^-h lake George .n .777. with the statement: "They were the
lirst white womcn*to see this hvke. eAc-pt the few wives uf common soldiers and
cmp followers." Probably the auUior had never heard of Mistress GUlilnnd who
went tiirov.gh tlc\ rn ve.'.rii bi forr. *
msTdin' OF WKsri'oirr ivi
nearly eveiy .stop[)iui]; i)lace by tlio severe illnoss of Mr.
(lilliland. Qnotiug his diary :
"2i.l Jane, arrived at fort George on that day, in the
.'veniuii-. My illness coiitiuuiug, detained us all at fort
(u'or^'e for nine days, from the 2d, to Wednesday, 11th
June, then pat all my stores and embarked myself and
family on board of Wm. Stonghton's schooner, and hav-
in-- a fair wind arrived this evening at Ticonderoga la)id-
ing, where being necessarily detained the 12th, embarked
the nest day on board the sloop Musquenuuge, and
ill a passage of one and three-fourths hours arrived
at Crown Point on the evening of Friday the 13th June.
Here my disorders returning, I v/as confined by my
room, often to bed, to Saturday the 21st June. Then
left Crown Point, and the wind being favorable, arrived
the evening of tliis day, {)retty late at Ge,4'ge Belton's,
where we staid all night, and the next day being Sun-
day, 221 June, jn'oceeded on our .Journey, and arrived
in ^Miiitown, in AVillsboro. Mrs. Elizabeth Gilliland,
my spouse, being the first lady of our family that landed
iji AVillsb'U-ou^h."'
So it was tilt! twt.'uty-tirst of June, and on a Saturday
Hiat the women of tiie family first saw Besslniro, from
the d.H'k of the .sloop Mustpienunge. The whole party
ronsistetl, as Gilliland takes pains formally to set down,
<ii "my wife Mrs. Eli/al)eth Gilliland, my mother Mrs.
Jane Gilliland, my sister Miss Charity Gilliland, my
brother Mr. James Gi,lliland, my daughter [Miss Eliza-
bi.'th Gilliland, mv nie-i-e Miss Elizabeth Hamilton, my
114
iJisroRY OF WKsrroirr
.^ervaut girl Laehol McFiudfU, atiJ ray negro man
Irelaml."
Gillilaiul was at tliis time not much over thirty. Lit-
tle Elizabeth uas two years oKl, and the only chihUeft
them since the drouninf^ of her sifter. How she must
have been guarded by mother, graudmotiier and auut.
and what a bad couiiiany it must have boon. Perliaps
tlie fathor to(»k little iJessiu his arms, and pointed out
to her the shores which he had called by her name,
traced the boundaries of the pateut and exulted over its
beauty and extent.
All that summer the lake was busy with the traffic of
tht- colonists, rhilip Skene was also at work build-
ing up his colony at the southern end of the lake, and
his boats came often to the ore bed ou the shore below
Crown Point for ore for his forges. It seems probable
that the persojial jurpiaiutaiire of Skene and Gilliland
dates fri)m thi.-^ i)t,'riud.
In Septenjtnr came a very distinguishe.l party frr.m
tlie south, and tMU' which (lillihiud seems to have felt
it his duty to welcome. A commission had been ap-
pointed by the crown to verify the boundary line be-
tween the juoviiiccs of (.lucbcc and New York, and w:i>
composed of Sir llMury 3[oore, Governor of New York.
Sir Guy Carleton, Governor of Quebec, Philip Schuv-
Icr, afterward «air (i, ner.-.j Schuyh-r of the Pevolution,
and an a.tron.-nifr named Pobert Harper. These gen-
tlemen were ;Hc')mj.anied by a nephew of Sir Guv
Caileton. 'piob:.b!y Christopher, afterwards Maj<u
Caiieton.i ,.n M!..rn..v i.;ui..d Jojui McKes>fm,, and
/ijSTO/n' OF WEsrroiiT no
Ciipt. Charles Frcilenl)nrgb, ami tliey came np the
Hudson from New York, ari-iviu;j; at Fort George th*^
secoud of September. There Gillilaml met thetn, and
writes in liis diary :
'■Governor Moore immediately gave me an invitation
to become one at his table, which I accepted. He and
Governor Carleton accepted my invitation to take their
passage in my Bateaux across the lakes, and we tdl ar-
rived safe at Crown Point ou Saturday, 6tli Sep., 1760."
The next da}' observations were taken to determine the
exact latitude of the fort. "After dinner embarked for
home in my Bateau, the Governors an.1 (jther geutle-
lueu embarking before dinner, in the sloop. Overtook
them at Button Mould Bay and went al>oard the sloop,
where dinner being just served up, 1 dined with them;
there being little or no wind, tarried with them -i or o
hours, and then pushed oft' in niy boat for home, where
1 arrived about one in the morning, found all well."'
So it was almost i'.i ^Vestport waters that the Boun-
dary Commission was becalmed for a half day or more,
a party of eight at dinner, talking, perchance, of the
prosperity of the jirovinees since the peace with France
had been declared, and of the future of this beautiful
Viilley and waterway whicii had been gained so recently
by England. Perluq)s Gillilaud ])ointed out to them
the shore of Bessboro, and told of his plans for its set-
tlememeut. Ten year.-^ afterward Governor Carleton
came again t<» the same s]>ot, but that time he sailed
fi'om the north, struggling against a contrary wind in
the pursuit of the' tjvt-aping colonial lleet, grounded and.
n(^ ijlstoi:y of wnsTroirr
burnocl before his eyes not two miles from Buttou P,,iv.
Ymi neither he nor rhili]> Schuyler tiion-ht how tli("v
shouUl fight each other in the future, as tliey drank
their wine together, and when the wind sprang ui.
again they wont on their way to Canada. A ^veek af-
terward Governor Moore and his party came back, and
on the 20th of Septendjor Gillilaud wrote iu his diarv :
'•This day Sir Henry Moore, Col. ileid, Philip SehuV-
ler, Kobort Harper and AdolpljusBenzel,* Esq's, calleil
and drank tea, etc., with us, on their return from As-
tronomer's Island, having completed their observation
to satisfaction, and fixed the line about 5 miles to the
northward of Windmill Pdint."
And so Mistre.ss Gilliland had company in the best
room of the house at Milltown, of which we only know
that it was built the 3 ear before "with logs, 44 feet bv
22," and had "u doubl.^ chin)ney." The furniture had
all been brou-hl frnm New York.—tweuty-two wagon
loads,"— and it is to hv hoj.od tlud enough china tea-
cups for the use ,,f tlie Governor's party had arrived
unbroken. What would we give now for the tea-p.-t
which held the tea? We can imagine the group sitting
around the great (q.en tiiv-plHoe in the evening, it is
said that Sir Jl-nry ^Wno was "a gay, affable, good-
natured and well-i»red gentleman." Little J3ess was
theonly ehild to l„. notieed.and Philip Schuyler had
babies of his own at home. ])id he take her on his
'Adolphus B.n.el wa. t.'.c f.rst to fill th7'offic7~of~'l7spect^;r hL
Majesty* ^ood. an I forc.t. a.a un..ppropri..t.d l.nds on Lalce ChampL.in and ir
C^aada." He .•,.., -.c cnyir.cc ^.ho planned the extensive works at Crown Point
HI STORY OF wKsrroirr in
kneo and win her licait as lie won the hearths of the
children of Barouess lliedesel, and the heart of the
Baroness herself, wlieii he took them under his })rotee-
tioD after tiie battle of Saratoga?
The Commissioners passed on their way, Schuyler
j^erhaps the only one of them destined ever to see that
hearthstone aj^aiu, and the next day another little
<lan£;hter was.boni, and named Jane AVillsboron.^h Gil-
hlaml, the first name in memory of the little girl
drowned at Stillwater in May.
And when little Bess was a lass of six, and Willsboro
had become a large and thriviuo; settlement, her father's
])hins for colonizing Bessboro began to be fultilled, in
the coming of Bavmond.
IV.
lia\-nioiicl and the Itcvoliitioii.
The First Hon^e in Westport was made by one Ed-
ward Baymond, in the yeai' 1770. Who this man was,
whence h'» came, to what place he went after his sojourn
<>D these shores, we cannot tell. We do know that he
wMs one of Gillilaud's colonists, and that the greater
part of these wei'e said to be Irish, like Gilliland him-
self. Baymond is a good Irish name, and one borne
by a noble family. Most of the earliest settlers jit Mill-
town came from X'ew York, but every part}- of emi-
j^rants was joined by others all along the way, at
Albany, or S •it'U'.'sboi'ongh., or at anv ))lace where there
IIS niSTORY OF WKSTPOirr :
was an opportuLiit}-. Gillilaiul advertised iu the 'OLer-
curv," a New York paper, offering ioducemeuts to "lu-
dnstrious Farniors" and otljers who would go to the
promised laud of Lake Chaiuplain. But liayinond can-
not be ranked in the class of ordinary colonists, most
of tlicin so ]Kior tliat the}" were oblij^od to work for the
first few years foi- a bare maintenance, as it is plain
that he must have been ji ninn of means.
Ilaymond settled upon Gilliland's patent of Bess-
V)oro, at the mouth of the stream which we now call tlie
Bayruond broolc, building' a saw riiill and a grist mill
upon the littL- fall. On all this vast frontier, there was
hardly a more promising place of settlement than the
one he chose. On one of the main waterways of the
country, iu a virgin land fast filling with eager settlers,
he was in the direct line of all travel north and south,
convenient to the settlements along the Vermont shore,
and not far from the f(^rt at Crown Point. There ^\•as at
that time no better mill site on the shore of the lake.
In those days of full streams, before the woodsman's
axe had let in light and air to dry the face of the ground,
the mouth of the brook was as wide as the little bar
into which it tlo\\>., and deep enough for loaded boats
to come almost to the foot, of the fall. Thus was af-
forded a harbor safe from storms aiid j^assing enemies.
Here Raymond settled, and here he lived for six vears.
during the time of the greatest prosperity of the colony
on the Boqut't. These were the years which show-
forth once mole the truth of that wise saving, "Hai)pv
is that land wldcli has no historv," fur Gillihuurs di;u\
ii/SToi:y OF WKSTi'oirr uu
ce;iso(l to be regulai'ly kept after Jniio of 17()7. Thus
\vr- tiuil lio ineutioii of IlayniouiVs sottlemeut in the
•liavv. The most ilireet testiiuouy iu regard to it is
fuiuid in an affidavit discovered among the Land Papers
of the Seereta)j of State by Mr. Henry Harmon Noble.
Tliis atfidiivit is referi'tul to in Watson's "Pioneer His
torv of tiie Cluunplaiu Valley," but lias never before
bee]: ic print.
Laud Papers, Office of Secretary of State, Albany.
Vol. 3't, page 125. Dated August 17th, 1785.
J/f/n/'T/V of Uthu'if Hail h) relafion to Eiiicard Hat/)noi)'rs
"h'tle iimJtr Will tarn 'GiUUand to la
oil tJie west ■side of Lal-c Chaii/phni
Udny Hay, being duly sworn, deposeth and saith
that about the year one thousalid seven hundred and
seventy (1770) ):^ilward Kaymoud was settled and Im-
pr(jviu,ij; lands in Bessborou^li on the west side of Lake
Cliamphiin, td.)out eip^ht miles north of Crown Pe»int and
about three miles south of the Great West Ba}', called
the {here "Bay de Kocher Fendu" is struck out iu the
orij^iual) West I'ay. That the said Edward Pvaymond
hail there built a Dwelling house and a saw and grist
ruill. That the said Edward liayuiond iufcunned the
deponent either that he was a tenuant of or held under
William Gilliland, who then lived on the west side of
the Lake at a i)iaee called Willsborough. That this
Deponent was also informed l)y the said William Gilli-
land that the said Edward Jvaymoud wa- a renaut, or
had ]iurchased of him and Im])roved und.'r hinu.
And thisDei>onent further saith that the said Edward
Piaymond lived, ch'ared and cultivated land and Im-
proved at the place above mentiixied to have his resi-
dence until the eommenctunent of the late war, and
ntitil some time in»lhe' year 1770, and farther Deponent
saith not.
(Siu^neil) Ui»NV H.W.
'120 11 [STORY OF WESTroRT
Swoi-D ill New York the 17tli of A.i-nst. ITS.-; bofoiv
W. Wilson, Ald'r,
This IMnoy Hay is tlie CoIohgI Hay wlios., uauu.
often appears in the printed volumes of the Public Pa-
]>ers of George Clinton. He had known Gillihtnd well
from the beginning of the colony on the Boquet, his
honic being in Montreal before tlje Eevolntion.
We also tind mention of a place called Paymond's
.Mills in two letters written from Lake Champlain in
the snm^mer of 17S.0, and described in detail on another
page. That at least one house in this settlement stood
until aftur the Pevolutiou we kno^\ from a letter by
Judge Charles Hatch, which he calls "a sketch of thl
early settlement of the county, but more particularly
of the town of Wosfport." In it he says :
"Still there was also a small improv meut four miles
soutli of the present \Vesti.ort village, commenced by a
nianbythenameofPaiment, which was the only h,.-
provement commenced before the Pevoluti.ni in the
in-esent Westporl. At the last mentioned place Pai-
n^nt erected a small null, but it all was demolished
when I nioved iuiu thi> place, (1802) excej-t a shattered
old house which was occupied by Jienjamin Andrews/'
Of course '-Pvaimeut" stands for Pavmond in the
Judge's sprlli.,g, whi.h had its eccentricities. -Vnothe-r
connr.natory d.H.u.M..nt is an old deed, made out in
Iblb, eno.u>..d <.n tlu- outside, "Jared Pond to Ananias
Pogers, Oir r.cd, ibiymoiul Fan,, ,^- Mill Lot, X. W
Pav." ii.H.I... Nn:.pp.,.l up in . tarn^l.. of law tc.rm>"
we I.nd i|n.e vsonis: '-Also t!,;,t Tract of land com.
iriSrORY OF WKSTrORT T2i
iiionly called the Eayrnond farm, now in possession of
I'ftujamin Andrews, C(.intaining two Imndrod acres."
The Gazetteer of the State of New York, published
ISifiO, says: "A small settlement was begnn, and a mill
luiilt in the south \va\1 of tin- town before the Revolu-
tion." This modest and perfectly correct statement is
tran>;ferred to the Essex County History of \'6'^U in this
{uxm : "It is reported that a mill was built and a small
settlemoit begun in the south part of the village (sir)
prior to the Revolution, but all vestiges of these were
obliterated during that fierce, internecine struggle."
Perhaps wo could have spared at least one of the ad-
jectives in exchange for a more careful investigation of
facts.
And last of all, there still survives on the soil itself a
legend, told by the first settlers after the Revolution
and preserved by tlieir descendants, of one Raymond
who once had a mill near the mouth of the brook and
wiio was driven from his home by Indians, fleeing in a
Miiall boat with his wife and child to the Vermont shore,
while the savages burned his house, A grandson of
dames W. Coll, who setth-d at the ].lace in 1808, told
nie this t-ile before the atli.lavit of I'diiey Hay was sent
Uie fiDtn Albany, and ] have no doubt myself that the
additional details contained in this oral testimony arn
perfectly true.
Thus v.e havt- all the known f;icts about our earliest
^k-ttlcment. always such an iuteiesting point in the his-
tory of any town. We can imagine howRayiUi^ud built
ijis li>u' cabin, thi-n his saw u.uji, and a little )aU')- tht- "rist
ij-2 niSToin' OF wESTJ'oirr
mill, uuloss as wasofteii the ease, both uiills wore hoiHe.l
niidov one roof. The mill stones aiul the saw must have
bt'eu brouj^ht a loii^ way perhaps in l)oats from New
Yoi'k, like the machinery for Gilliland's mills on the
JJoquet. But who wanted the boarils that Haymonil
sawed, and who brou;.^ht corn and wheat for him 1()
j^^rind ■? J)(inbtloss most <if the produce (jf tli«»
mills was cousunied in the settlement itself, but
all alonf^ both shores of the lake were settlers gdad of
these modern iuiprovements. The grist nnll must have
been es])ecially welcome, since one can live in r;reat
comfort in a log house with a iio(3r of hewed ])uucheons,
but grinding corn by hand in an Indian mortar is very
slow and laborious. This was no unpeopled wilder-
ness, reckoning as an American frontiersman reckoned
in 1770. And who were Ilaymond's nearest neighbors?
The family of John Ferris, living on the opposite shore
of the lake, only three nnles i'.way, at the place which
we now call Arnold's bay. Seven miles to the soulh
was another mill on the lake shore, probably built at
nearly the same time as Raymond's, and eight miles
away, on the peninsula of Cn^wn Point, lay the [netro|)-
• ilis of tht^. region, in the village near the fort. There
was always a garrison oi soldiers in the big barrack-^
that Amherst luiilt, and there had been a thriving vil-
lage ou the sliore of the bay, with cleared farm lands
stretching away to tli«' south, fver since the early days
of French oceu[).tti.)n. Although most of the Freneli
iidiabitants,* if not all, may have r<'turnt,'(l to Canada
whiHi the rountiv was givMi up to tlb- Ibitish, they
iijsT(fRy OF WKsrroirr 12. -^
Ii.kI hoen gone but seven years, !\n«l most of the liousos
::.!'.st \ia\v heeu left wlion llaymond came, proluibly
.•ccupied by new settlers from tlie English colonies.
llighty years afterwaril, \V. C AYatson rotracetl the line
i.f the village street, with its door stmies and cellars.
There was a store, driving a brisk business with the
-oldiers and settlers. When supplies on the Boquet
i.iu low, Gilliland had recourse to this store, and we
may be sure that when Esvymond wanted a new axe
liead, or ]\]istressPiaymond had lost her darning needle,
a_ small l)oat canje out froui the. mouth of the Raymond
lirook and was rowed eight miles across blue water to
the same place.
So much for next-door neighbors, east and south. Tn
the north, the nearest were Gilliland's settlers below
Split ikock, twelve miles away. To the ^\ est, the bound-
lt^ss continent, unexplored, full of v/ild beasts and sav-
ag(! men, the little settlement formiug but a tiny notch
cut oat from tlif, edge of a universe o{ nnmeasui'ed
forest.
So we can see how the Baymonds lived, v.-ith the
people who gathered around tliem. The men worked
in the niills, hunted and tished, while the v/omen spun
before the rude fireplaces an<l the children played along
the shore. In six years of the existence of the little
community thete mast have been both birth-, and
deaths, and the ilead v, ere buried on the point which
^)verlo(jks the island, with tlat stones set U|> at the head
and foot of each grave. Perhaps it was liiymond's
>i'tl]ers who e;il)i"d the isbnjd '-Cherrv Island," l.s it is
1-24 nisTonv OF ]VKsrr(>r:T
namoJ on the map made in ITS."). Au E.^'.i-h colony
Avouli.l h;ii\lly know llio .•^tt)ry of the tor:.:".r ■:•!* Fatlit-r
Jo|j;ues, inoie tlum a huudrod years befure. Tbas tliey
spent fiv(} yoar.s in the )-U(](? and advecturj^.s life of
i'rontiersin.'ii aiul tiieir t'aiuille.s, and then v-.i.:;:e a bud-
den Hash and npht^aval at their very doors iii the taking
of 'J'ic()nd(M('ga and Crown Point l)y Eth.-i! Allen and
IJenndict Arnold.
Peihaps there were nuMi from Rayrnoiid's Mill, in
the little band that crossed the lahe from SLoreham to
TiconderogJi that May morning of 1775, crepi into the
fort past the st;irihd sentitiel, and gave :;!e cheer in
front of the barracks which wakened DehudAoe. F"r
several days behjre the attack, the Green Mountain
Boys had searched the shores of the lake from Skenes-
boro to Pant()n for boats in which to transport the at-
tael:ing force, .-md Raymond n:ay have sent both men
and boats, ui- liave joined in the enterprise himself. Or
it may be tln\t he stayt;d cautiously at home, and saw,
looking out of his do!)i-, the two small boais which, were
sent by tlie liritish garri.-^on at Ciov.n Point, to
carry to Canada the news of the loss of Fort Ti, with
au urgent request for reinforcements. Down the lake
they Went with all sp.-t-d, but bi:-fore they were out ":'
the Narrows they w.-re capturcnl by that one of th<'
Green Mount, lin lioy.s w!io bore the unfiu-gettal)le nam--
of Pi. 'member Paher. Lying in waif inside the uu)uth
of Otter (.'r.. k, h'- cam.- (uit just in time to intercept
tliem. ;uid th.'V .U!'! th-'ir dispatclu-s were hustled back
to swrll the.uiimbei- .'t the captured ii,ud the gc-n-nai
iiisroin' OF WKsrroirr ^0,5
;_lorv of the occasion. One cau irnai;iiie tlieir ilis;-:,u.st
with the strutting,' ami crowiu-'; Coutinoutals, ongagoil
.il)ont that tiFiif , acconliii.u; to Alleu's own ac^Mutit, in
■'tossiiij^- about the flowing hcwl." Wht'n Seth "Warner
came to take possession of Crown Point he i'ouiui thert^
;• garrison of one sergeant and eleven men. Did
^Varuer pull down tlie banner of Enj^land from thefla;!:;-
-talY, or did he leave it flying in obedience to that tre-
mendous fiction which so solemnly maintained that the
colonists were not resisting the king, but only figliting
;t Httle provisionally while seeking to learn more fully
his good pleasure in certain disputed matters?
The next thing for Raymond to see from his door was
the schooner of Major I'hilip Skene sailing }>ast with a
good south breeze. Many a time had he seou her before,
lor she had made regular trips from Skenesboro to St.
•bihn's ever since Skene built her, but now Skenesboro
was in the hands of the Continental soldiers, and tin-
schooner was commanded by Benedict Aiucjld. Fol-
lowing c:imo a number of batteaux loaded uith men,
and commanded by Ethan Alh^i. Twt) or three days,
.Old tlie schooner is seen agaiti, sailing south, trium-
I'hant convoy of a captured sloop and four batteaux,
which Arnold had taken at St. John's the day before.
Now the eolonists ruiedl the lake from end t<^ end, and
by tliis time liaymond iiiust have ih^clared himself for
King or Congiess. That he chose the latter seems
nio>t probable from tin-, fact of his staying until tlu^
iH-xt year. A Tory miliar living so neai- the fort would
iia\f lit^tju ii\elined» to gt) away as soon as possible aftel'
. 12H JUSTijUY OF WlCSTI'nirr
the led-eoats li.ul ^iveu way to the Gr<;eii Mouutaiti
lloy.s.
Late iu August of that suuniier, General liiehanl
3Ioutgoinery It'l't Ticonderoga \vitli an army of a tlious-
aud ijiui), fulL)\v(;(l elo^>ely l^y his; chi<r;f, Major-denera!
Schuyler. Both these nieti were familiar with Lak--
Cbamplaiu, from their serviee against the French in
the last" war. It was Phiiij) Schuyler, as will be le-
membereil, who dined in Bnttou bay wheu lie was with
the Boundary Commission in ITtiG, and afterwavds took
tea with the Gillilands at Milltown. His friend Sir
Guy Carleton was still Governor of Canada, but Schny-
ler would not dine with him unless one of them should
be taken p)-isonor. This was that romantic, disastrous
invasion of Canada, tlif story of w hieh is so full of names
.of men who aft .rward became famous, and which is, as
a whole, symbolized, for glory and for grief, by the o\w
name of llichard Montg.)mery. On the last day of
the year, leading an unsuccessful attack on Quebec, h>--
was killed, and tlu'ie buried. After forty-three years,
his body was carried through the lake to its last burial
in New York.
HiiymtMid and CriHiland must have heani of Mont-
gomery's death, of Arnold's wound, and of the army ir.
winter quarters at Montreal. At the very beginning of
the campaign S<;lmyler hacl lu^en obliged to go back t->
Albany <»n aciount of sickness. All that winter th-
l;dv';> was full of n)(-s^fngcrs, trooiis sent as reinforce-
ni'Mits, sick and fui-louglicd men returning to th^^ii
llon^tJ■^. and .dl Luc i.u-1,1.- '.u.l contusion inci'-lcnl f.o tic
Til STORY OF ]vi-:sTroirr ijt
I'.-ar of aw army of invasion. Snowslioes and sledgfs
xM'ved for the winter's travel, and when the ice broke np
in the sprinp; alinf>-^t the first l)oats that went thron^h
("iriied the Commission of Cmigress to Canada.
If Eaymond stood in his door on the twenty-fourth
(if April, 177C, lookinpj out npou the water, where cakes
o{ ice still floated, f^vindinff and crushinf^ apjainst the
>hove, he nii^ht have seen two lioais <;o by, making
tlu'ir way nr-vtliward. Tlie boats were hir^e and heavy,
thirty-six feet in length and eight feet wide, furnislied
with a rude square sail and rowed by armed men who
wore a uniform of browti with baft' facings. Tiiere were
thirty to forty soldiers in each boat, and the whole
farmed an escort for four men, sent by Congress to Can-
ada to trv the temper of tlif Canadians and induce
them, if possible, to join the thirteen colonies in rebel-
lion agaitist Great Ijritaiti. There were tliree Commis-
sioners, I>enjamin Franklin, Samuel Chase aarl Charles
Carroll of Cairollton, accomjianied by Join; Carrc^U, a
•b-suit jnit'st, and afterward the tirst lloman Catliolic
Arrh-bishop.-,f the United States. Tlieyhad had a weary
j'uniey from Philadflphia, stopping for a welcotne rest
at the liouse of Philip SchnUer, and had now left Ti-
eonderoga at eleven o'clock, reaching Crown Point a
little after three and stopping there to examina tije
<hfenees. Charles Carroll wrote in his diary that they
h'und theiij "in ruins," \\hi(;h seem> very surprising
wlien one considers that it was only seventeen years
^-illce Amherst built tlie f(.>rt ainl tin- barracks at great
'Ap-Mise, and in the Uio.-t subst..'iiti:d jjiaiine)', bnt Cai-
JJS
nisTour OF \vi:sTi'<)jn
rollexplaius: "]]y soiiio uccideui Iho f(jrt took tiie, th,. '
flames commiujicateil to the powder maoazine, contain- ]
• ing at that time ninety-six barrels. The shock was so 1
^reat us to throw down the barracks- at least the upp.r j
•stories. The explosion was distinctly heard ten niilcs J
otr, iind the earth shook at that distance as if there had ]
been aji eartliquake. This intellioence I received from I
onu Taris, who liv. s ten miles dt)wu the lake, and at \
wiiose house wo hiy tliis night." |
Carroll came fr.^n Maryland, and was not familiar !
with >;ew Eu..Iand names, but of coarse "Faris".means \
Ferris, who lived ^m the eastern shore, just opposite |
Raymond's Mills, having settled there tlie year preced- |
iug the.coming of Jiaymond. The explosion at the f>,rt \
must have formed one of the most startling experiences |
of the Fiaymond settlement. |
If Kaymond saw the boats of the Commissioners 1
drawn up on the shon. at Ferris's, (we now call th^
plac- Arnold's bay,, and the party making preparation^
for e.mping for the night, h. may have had the curi-
osity to row across and obtain a nearer view of th^
strangers. At ti\.. thr next ujorning tiiey were again on
their way, hut as they went through the Narrows
there came up a uale from the north, a.id th.v
w...re forcd to stop at the house of one of GiUilands
•■"loHists, on the p.vs.mt site of Ess.x. The Commis-
sioners do not .<eeui to havo known of the existence ot
Gilliland, uho.se hospitality was so eagerly extended to
the lioundary Commission ten years before.
Carroll's jour.ial continues the account of the jourue>s
lIlSrORY OF WKSTFOirr 1-2U
to Montreal, whicli tliey reaL-hetl April 29, being re-
ceived by Cloneral Benedict Arnold, then in command,
with much courtesy. On May 11 Carroll ^vrites : "Dr.
Franklin left Montreal to-day to go to St. John's, and
from thence to Cougress. The doctor's declining state
«>f lieaith, and the bad prospect of our atl'airs in Canada,
made him take this resolution. " A man of seventy
years was indeed ill-titted to endnre the hardships of
such a journey, in open boats and over rough roads,
sleeping under the awning of the boat or a rude shelter
of bushes in the raw winds of our northern April.
Franklin was accompanied on his return by the Rev.
John Carroll, the other two Commissioners remaining
in Canada until they left it with the Continental army in
full retreat, the last of May. Tliey rowed all day and
all night, passing Raymonds Mills the evening of the
third of June. One month after, the arm}- of Sullivan
pa^,sed by, hastening to shelter in the fortifications at
Crown P<)int. The next day Congress adopted tljo
Declaration of Intlependonce and three of the men who
camped (jn the shore of the lake opposite Raymond's
Mills that April night were Signers of that fanjous in-
strument.
Gilliland's settlement at Milltowu had now had a
prosperous existence of ten 3ears. In this time there
had gathered there a population of upwards of one
hundred .souls, with twenty-eight dwelling houses, forty
other buildings, two grist mills, two saw mills, and a
large extent of cleared and cultivated land. All this
the colonists were tVnced to abandon bv the orders of
]:u> 11] STORY OF WESTPORT
Sulliva!!, conimnnder of the retreating army, strollgl^■
seconded \)\ tlieir own ft-ars of the arniy of Carleton.
M'bich was in close pursuit. Gillilaud buried the heavv
inacbiuery of the mills iu the woods, aud taking his
family an<l what furniture lie was able to carry, fled to
Crown J^oiiit. Here tlio army was s|)read out in one
vast liospital. Sullivan remained there ten days and
when ho moved on to the south he left behind him three
hundred new made graves of soldiers who had died of
sraall-pox. Shelter for army or for fugitives there was
none. This was a scene for a man to enter with a fam-
ily of motherless little children, — for GilHland's wife
bad died before this time. The oldest of the children
■was Elizabeth, now twelve years old. Her grandmoth-
er and the household slaves had the care of the familv.
So little Bess looked once more upon Bessl;)oro, as they
hurried up the lake in confusion and distress.
Gillihuid sold his caUle and crop.s to Sullivan's army,
Avhich stood in sore need of milk, beef ami vegetables.
The commissary was that Major Fl;iy who afterward
gave his atlidavit in regard to GilHland's ownership of
Bessboro. Gilliland complained most bitterly that he
was cheated in the price of his cattle, and robbed ami
plundered by tht- soldiers of Arnold. When he laid
these complaints before Gates, the Commander-in-Chief,
Arnold's defense was a contemptur)us denial, and a
charge that (iilliland was at heart a loyalist, and guiltv
of attempts to convey information to the enemy. "Gil-
libinil," said he, "is a most plausible and artful villain."
In the light c>f sub.^f.pi- lit hi-toiy, it \\iuil>l seem tluit
: :. IflSTOliY OF WKSri'ORT 7.7/
Aruokl nii^lit have been a gooel jnil;^'o of tliaf. kiuJ of
tiling, but there is no real evidence that GilHhiud was
ever inclined to play such ii ])arfc. It is ])rol>aV)ly trno
tbtit he called Ai'nold and his men "a parcel of damned
i-olibcrs," as one witness gave evidence, but we shall
not find it difficult to forgive him for that.
Gilliland. seems to have taken his family to All)auy
in the wake of the army, and did not return to Lake
Ciiamplain until after peace was proclaimed. In all
this we have no hint of how things went v.ith llaymond
and his settleuient. He was, of course, in a much safer
position than the settlers of Milltown, being able to
reach tiie fort in a short time after an alarm should be
given. It would seem that it might have been profita-
ble for him to keep his mills going while the soldiers
were at the fort. There was no shelter theie for such
an army, and the boards from the saw-mill would fur-
nish material for rude huts, whih^ the grist-mill would
grind corn to feed the men. Well they knew that
Oarleton ^^ as straining evt;jy nerve to follow the re-
treating army, but absolute safety was nowhere, and
the miller was not timid,— timid men did not under-
take to settle on Lake Champlain before tlie Revolu-
tion.
After the patiit)t army left Crown Point, the soldiers
statii)ned there were active in the Imildiug of the little
fleet of Benedict Arnold. If Raymond went often to
the fort, he saw there the galleys and gondolas building
in Bulwagga bay, while others were fashioned at Skenes-
borough and Ti, ail under the rostlt.'ss, driving domina-
]:rj II I ST 0 in- OF WEST I 'OUT
tion of tlie vuliiig spirit of these iiorthoru \vaters,AriJoKl
liiinsolf. The u-liole summer was spent in sliip-building.
Aruold at tlie soutbern enrl of the hike, Carletou at tht-
tiortbern. In October both were ready to fight. On
the eleventh they came together, fighting a fierce naval
battle near Valcour, in which Carleton gained all the
advantage and Arnold all tlie glory, from the fact that
Arnold was fighting an enemy tv/ice his size and more
than hol'ling his own. On the morning after the battle,
before daylight, Aruold slipped away, silently and suc-
cessfully, favored by his own knowledge of the lake,
and fine spirit of his men, and their perfect and intelli-
gent disci}'line. Not U7\til they were well out of his
reach did Carleton discover tlieir escape, and he gave
chase at once. Winds v.ere adverse, and it was not
until the thirteenth that the running fight between pur-
suer and pursued reached Split Kock and the waters of
Wcstport. Arnold was ir.tent upon escaping to the
protection of the guns at Crown Point, and Carletou
was eager to bring him to anotlier engagement in v%hich
the great superiority of the British liuet in ships, in
men, in guns and in juevious drill might be brought
fully to bear and ctVect a dt-cisive victory. For ''^^\t^
ghi.sses," says Arnold's report, (two hours and a half,^
the fight went on in the upper Narrows and in North-
west Bay. Arnold's tl^et had numbereil fifteen vessels.
His best slu'i', the /A/y''/ Sncinjr, was lost iu the first
day's fight. The selu^. «ner lunrnfje and the sloop ////-
(irj>r!s'\ with the galhy I'rinuhnjf^ escaped to Crown
Pi)lnt. whil-- the gail<-y ]]'<i.^l/ni>ih>n was taken near Split
11IST0J2Y OF WKSTl'Oirr 7.-n
Uoclc. OtlitM- galleys and goii lulas had boon snid; or
disalilel, until Arnold's gall'V, the CoiKjress, with four
gondolas, carried ou the fight with Carletou'.s JiijJcj-i-
hh- and his two schooners, the Maria and the Carlrlon.
In the ]Mctnve which we may conjure U]) of the naval
battle in Xortliwest ba}', Oct. 13, 1776, the most cou-
si)icuous objoft is tlie jDjIexib/t', catching the. light on
her cloud of canvass as she makes long tacks between
the shores, attempting to bring her cannon to bear on
Arnold's boats, but c<jnstautly bailfled by a breeze from
the south. She was ship-rigged, with three masts, the
largest vessel then otloat ou inland waters, carr^-ing a
battery of'eighteen twelve-pounders, and quite able to
blow Arnold's rude little flotilla out of the water with
two broadsides, if she could but come within range.
Then there was the C'arlefon, a schooner with two masts
carrying tweUc six-])oundor>;, and now showing in hull
and rigging many marksof thecannonading (>f two days
before. T\ie J/tiria, (named after the wife of Gen. Carle-
ton,) wassomewjiat larger, with an arinamet:t of fourte-en
six-pounders, a;:d upon her forward deck stood Caj>tain
Pringle, commanding the fleet under the obsorvatitn: of
Gen. Sir Guy Carletou himself, with Baron Piiedt^sel an
interested observer of the engagement.
Opposed to tlie.so three vessels see Arnold in the
( 'oiKjrcss, simply a large o]>en boat, with rowers ranged
around the sides, plying heavy oars, since the one square
sail was of no use with the wind ahead. Itj tlie bow-
were mounted two cinnon, an eighteen pounder and a
ruelve j.Mjund'i-, in the stern two nines and on thesid^s
1:m U J story of WFSrrORT
&ix sixes. The O'U'/rt.^s was built to carry eighty meu,
and one-fourth of her crew were killed. The four gon-
dola.s were smaller than the Conr/reHs, each built to
curry forty-five men, with one twelve-pouuder and two
sixes.
The clitl'.s of the Narrows and of North Shore echoed
the roar of cannon, and the whole lala; kncvw that the
end of the battle drew near. Perhaps there were nier»
from Eaymoud's Mills fighting in Arnold's flotilla, and
])erhaps there were women loft at home who crept out
to the end of the point to watcli, or boys too young to
fight whu stole out in a skiff upon the water in sight of
the ships. The end came when Arnold, about two
o'clock in the afternoon, seeing that the- attempt to
reach Crown .Point was hopeless, ran his five boats
ashore in the little shallow bay opposite Barber's Point,
bis vowurs pulling to windward out of riuioh of the
enemy's guns. TIi-ju llie buiits were set on fire, with
every Hug ll}ing, and Arnold's men stood on the clay
bank, keeping ott' the siu.dl boats from the fleet with
nmsketr}' tire until the (_'nn.(jrt'S,<; and the four gondolas
were burned past all capture.^ Tben they retreated to
•T!-.e flag* were }ikc the one first rii.sed by Washinj^ton at Cambridge in Janu-
ary of the same ye.ir, bearing the thirteen red and white stripes for the thirteer.
colonies, with the union ci EngUnd, a red cross over a white one on a ' field of
blue, instead o£ the iUrs which we now use. 1 have not been able to determine
exactly the naines of the four {{ondolas whose charred timbers now lie on the bot-
tom of Arnold's bay, but thev were four out cf these six: The New York, Capt.
Kced, the Provi.lcncc, Ciipt. Simonds, the New Haven, Capt. .Mansfield, the Spit-
tire, Capt. Ulmcr, the Boston, Capt. Sumner, and the Connecticut, Capt. Grant. It
is oneof our loi-al Icjfcnds thut one of Arnold's boats hid in Partridge Harbor
after his tiuht wi-.hCarleton. U there i; any truth in tlii.-, it inii.st have been the
row B-iiiev I.-.e, L-.j-t. Dav :b. It is b:r,l i:i G.n. Uicdt^ci's M.cr:oirs the.: liiUgal-
iiiSTonv OF ]vi:srp<.)jrr is-i
C!rowii Point thr<:)U^li the wuuils, ft)llo\ved by Iiulians
who Ijad been sent by bind nj) tlio lake, and si<j;uaKnI
for boats to take them over to the fort. Crown Point
was at once abandoned, the Continentals falling back
tu Ti, and the next day Carleton's fleet came sailinjj; up
and occupied Crown Point. t
And how fared Edward Piaymond in all this stirring
business? We know that he left iiis .settlement in this
same year, and the local legend say.s that he was driven
away by Indians, escaping to the opposite shore in a
suiall boat with his wife and eliild, while his house was '
burning. Thus it would seem almost certain that the
savages attached to Carleton's army descended upon
Piaymoud's Mills and desolated the place. If this be
true, Raymoml suti'ered for the patriot cause, and his
fortunes fell with the defeat of Arnold. Since Crown
l^oint had just been occu|)ied l)y the British, he could
not llee to the ]>rotection of th- fort, and his only ave-
nue of escape lay by way of the eastern shore. Per-
haps his neighbor Ferris took him in that night, if
Ferris had had the hardihood to remain in his house,
and the good fortune to escape destruction.
ley '"Wiis found a few days later in a hay, abandoned by the crew." The men
niij^'hl have made their way ihrouR^h the woods to Ti, eluding tJie Indians who
had been sent up both sides of the lake by Carlefon,
tThe most exhaustive and complete account of the battle between Carleton and
Arnold is given in an article by C.iptain A. T. Mahan, U. S. K,, in Scnbner's
Magazine for February, iS'jS This article is finely illustrated, and a set of the
illustrations has been framed in wood taken from the wrecks of Arnold's boats.
The frames were made for .Miss Anna Lee by Mr. J. X. Barton, \vho had secured
at different times several pieces of wood from the wrecks. The remains of the
vessels still show plainly at low water, thoutjh little is left, of course, but some oj
f/ic kteJ timbtTS sutik in the mud.
isa jirsTonr of v.t.stpout
An officer in Carleton's nnnj, Liout. Digby, kept n
diary, iu which lie entered his inipressioDS of the cam-
pain and the countr}-. "Crowu Point," he says, "is a re-
markable fmo plain, au imconimon sight to us after be-
ing so long Inii'ied in sncli lioundless wooils, where our
camp formed agrand appearanco." He speaks of flocks
of pigeons, "thick enough to darken the air, also large
eagles," and of ."herds of deer all along the shore
fcide, which were seldom disturljed, the country being
but little altered since its first state of nature, except
now and then a wandering party of sa^ages coming
there to hunt feu- their sustenance." Ho mentions sev-
eral fam'ilies living near the fort who still remained loyal
to the king, and who had sutlered ranch in consequence
from the Continental soldiers. "Wlieii Carletou and his
fleet returned to Canada, before the first of November,
leaving the lake to the colonials for the v*inter, these
families chose to go tt>o, li^Livitij.^ the western shore more
utterly deserliAl than it had been since the first settle-
ments of the French.
The next June Sir .lohn Burgoyne'oame up the lake
with his spli'udid fleet, carrying over seven thousand.
Uien, the largi'sl army which e\cr passed Westport land,
and by far tlu^ mo^^t brilUant and impt^sing sight ever
visible from these shores. Burgoyne arrived at his
camp at the mouth of the Boquet river June 21, 1777,
his advance gu„ud being already there, and for a week
afterward iXw fair fulds of ^^'illsbl)ro were overspread
with tin- \\W\W t-nt> cf liis sddiery. Hrre he hel(':
a great iMUncd vi u;ir w iiJi tl'o liuli.au allies of Cheat
iiiSToin' OF ]vi:sri'(>irr y.vr
D'itaiii, and lieic he first issued tlie jiroclatiiatiou wiiirh
was called "the Boquet order," addressed to tho r<l>td-
i-.as coloi)ists, offerijjg- peace and pardon to all who
uonid return to their allegiance to thekiu^,', and threat-
<-iiiug all others with every terror of Indian warfare.
This proehunation ]iasspd unheeded over tlie deserted
iiuiulf^t of Rayniond's Mills, where the wind swept the
a>hes over the C(^ld hearthstones, and the squirrels
It'aped and chattered through the silent mills. Gilli-
laud's settlement was also deserted at this time, and 1
suppose there was uot a siuj^le rehelHous colonist on
this western shoi'e north e)f Crown Pcunt.
An eye-witness .on board one of the ships, Thomas
Anburey, describes the advance of the fleet, on a day
"remarkably tine and clear, not a breeze stirrini;," as
■"the most complete and splendid regatta you can pos-
<ilily ((uiccive. In the front the Indians went with
tlnMr birch canoes, containing!; twenty or thirty eacli ;
then the advance corps (Trazer's) in lei^ular line with
the gunboats; then followed the liniinl Gi(>r(ji- and th.^
Iiifh xiblf, towing large booms, with the two brigs and
sloops following; after them Generals Biirgoyue, Phil-
ri|)s and Eiedesel in their pinnaces; next to tliem th.e
second battalion, and the rear was Ijrought up with the
suttlers and followers of tlu> army."
The liuiidl (rcorijf was a tine new shi{), built lor this
campaign tlie winter l-)efore, and fitted to carry twenty-
four guns. The /////e.r/7./r, the (\irhtoii and the Mnrin
we have seen before in Xoitliwi-.st Bay, and again th<'
v-v.s' iiisronY or wrsrrnirr
Mcri'i has llic ilistiiictioii of c.irryiii^' the olKe*?!' Iji^li.~,t
ill iMuk, i\w ij;;i_v nnilorins of JUirgoyue anJ his stali
sl)o\viijg vividly under the white sails. The sim shoii^
bright on niusk(>t and 'oayom^t, brass buttons, gohl hic»-.
}>hinies ajid seai'let (dotli, with Hoating banners and
pennons, the .^hiuiri^ i^un^ of the artillery, and the pol-
ished instfunieiits of a band p.laying the most inspiiiu^ ■
martial airs. Soajev. hore iu all this o;liitering ]iai;-eant ;
went two heavy, rough-built vi.'ssels, the row-galle\-
jrashJixjfnii and the gouilola Jersf-'i captured in tli-
tight between Carleton and Arnold the year before. \
Their names soem to have reniained unehanged, lik.-
that of the A'"//'// S'triKjr^ which was built and naujed
by the Britisli, taken at St. John's In- Montgoineiy, and
used by Arnold as his tiag-ship in the battle of Vulcour. j
On the night of the 'I'yth of Jane the German battal- \
ion undtn- JJiedesel iiiadt^ its cam{) at Button Bay, \\- \
read iii iiis n!ei:ioirs : 'The weather was dtuightful, and \
we reaciii'd J)olioni bay the same night. On the ilay i
following, (tin 'inth.) the aimy arrived at nine o'cloek \
in the morning at Crown Point." "Bottom bay," of j
course, is a ini>:--reading of (ren. Biiedesel's notes by hi< \
biogra[>her, — pos.-ibly a ujjstake of his translator. ']
Gen. Jliedesel's biogi-aph.-i- savs: "Fifteen hundred \
horses iiad b.^-n [Muehased in Canada for the army. l!
They wer.: to be SiMit to Crown Point by land." And ]
Palmer says, i-i hi> i ['story .)f Lake Cham [.lain : '-Sevt^n
Imndred e.ut-. \\'-\-- brougiit ou with the arniy, to b,'
used in tran-i'-rling ba^'^ageand provisions across the
j.oitag.s b,iw.-. h tic- liA^-s .iiid the liud.-.on river, and
HTSTORY OF WKSTl'Oirr IH'J
fifteen liuiidrod Canadian horses wore sent \)\ land uji
the west side of the hUce, under a strong escort." Mr.
Pavid Turner, editor of a Westport news[)aper in the
forties, waswout to claiuj tliat this \vag(ni train passed
thr()U<,di Westport, and camped one Wvj^hi on the liill
iiortl) of the vilhige, now known as"Almon Allen's hill,"
r>urr;;oyne's orderly books and the published diaries of
two of his otlicers ^\\q no hint of horses brought, from
I'aiiada in any way except by water.
This German l^aron Eiedesel is one of the most in-
teresting figures in the nruiy of Burgoyue, partly on
Ids own account, and partly because of his i>eautiful
\\ife, who followed him from Germany to the wilds of
.\merica with three little children. She reached Que-
l>ec on the 11 th of Jutie, after her husband had started
^vith the army. They had {wo blissful days together,
ami then were obliged to part, he to his military duty,
and she to remain in Canada until his return from the
t-ampaign. Then it happenedj i-u'eciscly as it uiiglit
have hajipened in a novel, that at the battle of Hub-
bai'dton, July 7tli, a certain Major Acklaud was badly
wounded. His wife, Lady Harriet Ackland, liad also
followed her hnsl)aud to America, and was then in
Montreal. Hearing of her husl)and's wound, she started
•at once to join liim. When she arrived, aiid the story
was known, the whole army went wild with achniraticni.
A beautiful young woman of rank, the daughter of an
earl, ])assionately devoted to a brutal iiusband, thread-
in^; her way through forest and lake for hive of him,—
it was all pitch. "d to the high, (jniNotie level of th'-
jii) iiisToin' OF \vi:sTi'uirr
(li-;imii tli.it ljur^o}iio Mini liis men vvore playiug. G'l
r'ntgiiyiie knew i)i" riieJesel"s wife staying in Can;ul • \
(like a siiisible wonuin as .siie was,) and he said to In:;!. \
'"Geuei-al, you shall have your wife here also!" Su tli •
Baroness was sent for, and we \c\;\\ add her name to tli-
list of famous people who passed in sight of "Westport,-
an^-l never a sweeter, mere wonmnly soul looked out
n})()n it. She w ;is acconiji.uiied by two uuiids and \\<i \
three ehildiuu, six year oM Uustava, Frederica, and tin j
baby Caroline. In her diary she does not descriii- i
her journey through the lake with much detail, but \
sajs : "During the night we hid a thunder storrn, which |
ap[»eared to us more terrii)le, as it seemed as if we were l
lying in the bottotn of a caldron surrounded by mount- \
aius and great trees. The following day we passed |
Tieoiideroga." Were they storm-bound that night iu i
our bay, elost; und^r Noi'th Slioi-e, with the thunder n-- |
verbt-iating fiom the- elill's V They seem to have sle|ir
on board the boat for fear of the rattlesnakes on shor«,'.
Wlifu the army of Burgoyiie suirendered at Sara- i
toga, the J>ai'oi)ess and lun- children were taken charge
of by Phili[) Schuyler, and how prettily she tells the
story of his taking the l>a!)i^'s iu his arms and kissing
them, t" the intinite icas-urani'e of the mother's heart.
Th.'y wen- lodged in the Schuyler uiansion, and treated
with the mo^t ili-.tingiiislied eousideration.
The Gdldand children, wer- in Albany at this time
also, in tiie cart! i>f their grandmother. They had fallen
upon evil tiint-s, for their father was in pri.son upon a
eh.uge <>\ tf a-o!i, and ih: ir sla\es l;ad rtiii awa\'. Our
insTniiv OF WKsrroirr ui
Eli/abetli was then a girl of tliirtoen, tlic- oldi'st of a
t'ainily of live. They may have seen the little German
oliildren \vhi;se father wa- a prisoner too, comih;fjj ont
of the door of the Sciiuylcr house, or riding out with
their mother in the grand Schuyler coach.
x\.s the army of Burgoyne passed through Northwest
bay, spreading out its ranks upon tlie water as it
eniorged from the; Narrows, only one nutn in all the
Ueet lools'e<l upon these shores with k\(^^ of jiossession
and familiar acquaintance, and that was Major Phili|>
Skene, who had received from the king six j ears before
the patent which still bears his name, and upon which
l)art of the village of AVestport now stands. In those
six years he had done much and traveled far, seeing
many a coast with which he could contrast the sti'i-teh
of wooded shore, unbrc^ktii, desolate, washed by waters
which reflected every le;if and stone with double bril-
liancy that still Jnnc day. As he g.i/eit he must have
thought of his work at Skf^nesboro, where he had
built mills and forges and sh.ips, ;nid ))erh;i|)s he [)!;uined
to do the sauie in Northwest bav when this can)paign
should be over, and the king's authority acknowledged
without dis})ute on ;dl the continent. His mind must
have been full of his settlement at the end of the lake,
toward which ihe army was hastening, tor he had not
seen it since its ca[)ture by the (rreen Mountain ]Jo\s,
mort; than two years bof(jre. At th(- time of that e\tMit
he was in Kngland, leaving his s.)n Amlrew in charge of
tin." cohMjy. He returned froui England with two tine
liew things. ())je was a wife with :i fortune of foit\-
iij jiisrom' or WKsrroirr
thi.msauil pouuils, (lie haviii" been a haiulsoinc and
well-ooimeetod wiilower,) aud thu other was a lesplcn-
<le]it title, — "].i(Hitenaut-Goveniov of Ticondevoga and
Cro^\ 11 Point, and Surveyor of His Majesty's ATotjds
and Forests bordering on Lake Cliamplain." As h,-
stepped ot}' the ship at Philadelphia he was arrested by
the authority of Con<^ress, and wa.s k.^pt a [)ris(Hier fi)i
more than a year. One can iina^iiie tlie consteruali.ui
of the bridn at such an ending to her wedding triji.
Now he had been exchanged, had been to England
again, joined tlie army of Burgoyne, and found hiinstdt
once more on the fauiihar waters of Lake Champlain.
Within a few days ho was at Skeuesboro again, the arn)y
having s-wept tlie Continentals out of its path in ruin
and rout. He showed Burgoyne his coiou}-, or what
remained of it, and told him all his plans for the gov-
ernment of the Chaniplaiu valley. It has been said, l.'V
the v\-ay, that liis ac(juacintance witli Crilliland was inti-
mate, and that he UM'aut to make liim Ins viceroy wheii
he hinis!-!f should bei-i>m«> Governor. If this V)e true.
it may sia-vc to explain something of the mysteiious im-
})risonment (;f Crilliland in Albany at this time, which
has been hitherto attributed entirely to the maliciou-
persecution of Arnold, between whom and Gilliland, u''
know, tlu')-.; o\ist.-d the l)itterest hatred. A man whi>
had n-a.-on to exp.-ct an appointment of surh iuqxnt-
ance from th" crown may widl havt- been suspected of
sympathy with tlu' royali'^ts. But whatever the truth
may bf. \\,- \<^<{ all idianc' of ever tinding it out when
(;,)\rinor Skriir, \\\\\\. thf r.'stof the army, surrcudtnc.l
HISTOID y OF WKsrroirr i4:i
;it S;irat()fjfi. He insisted to the last, witli true Scotch
»iii;icity, that the country people of the hikes were loyal
.if heart, anil only wantei] the chance to tlock to the
-t:iu(lar'l of the kiii^. Fie never saw Skeneshovo, or
l.is ore hed, or his ])atent at Ncrthwe^t bay a^j^ain, and
all his |)ro})erty was pronijjtly confiscated by Con^^ress
as soon as })eace was declared.
Late iu Sfptenjber tlie-fi>reos of St. Leger, having
failed to make a junction with lUirooyne by \vay]of the
>roliawk liver, followed him throuf!;h Ijake Champlain.
\\'hcu IJaviroyne surrendered October 17, 1777, tht(
ni-ws soon reached Ticonderoga, and the P»ritish c^arri-
»on which had been ]eft thei-e hastily dismantled the
works and took to the boats, intent upon escaping to
Canada. Before they were half way down the lake,
('a|)taiu Ebenezer Allen (of the trilie of Ethan) came
"Ut u[H)n them with a party of Green Mountain lioys
:ind cut oft' the rear divisi(uj, capturing tifly nieii and a
large cpiantit}' of baggage and military stores.
A.ltlu)Ug]i ;ifter this year tlu; lake was the scene of
no great national event, it w;is none the less full of
picturesque scenes. The forts were not occui)ied by
either power, and the lake was one great Debatable
(.Iround, with the I>ritisli ships passing up and down at
will, wliile small jiarties of Green Mountain Boysranged
along the shores, keeping close watch of e\ery move-
nient. Bed-coated soldier and blanketml savage, some-
times both wearirig belts frmn wliieh (.langled fresh
se;tlps, went by Mtuthuaid in boats or on the ice, drag-
uiii-C with them ea['tive.-. fii.m the l)ordei setlh-ment>.
Jt4 IIISTOnV OF WKSTl'Oin
Hiid there me tales of these captives eseapiiii^ ainl tlet--
iii<^' soutliwarJ over tlie same trails. The Johnsons and
the Butlers from the valley of the Mohawk mude this
their pathway, and the face of Joseph Brandt, adorned
with war-paint and with eagle's phimes, looked more
than once upon the place where a descendant of his
own, not sixty years after, stood in a Christian pu]]iit
and preached peace and piety with benevf)U^nt zeal.-
In 31iiy of 17S0 came Sir John Johnson, at the head
of his Royal Greens and his Indian allies, five hundred
in number, on their way to visit the Mohawk valley
ouce more with tire and blood. At Crown Point thev
disembarked from the ships which had brought them
up the lake, and took to the woods, fohowing a well-
known trail to Johnstown. Turning instantly when
their blow had been struck, they began their retreat th^^
2ord of May, taking with them both prisoners and
plunder. Gov. Clinton hiujself followed them in clo>e
pursuit, going by way of Saratoga and Lake George,
hopiijgto cut them otl" before they reached Lake Chani-
plaiu, but they gained their ships almost under the ey^-<
of his scouts. He wrote to General Howe : "I with
great DitKculty got on a Fcu'ce superior to Sir John's
P.irty, but was not able to head him or gain his |)lare
of Enjbarkation (Bulhvagers Bay) until about Six Hours
after he left it." All tliat was left for the batlled Con-
tinentals was to keep scouts on and about the lake nil
summer, uith orders to report every movement of the
*Rev. Thomas Brandt, a lineal t/escend;int of Joseph Brandt, preached in '.he
Baptist church of W'estport for sl\ years, in the forties.
HISTORY OF WE ST PORT 74o
oueiuy. Ill command of one of these parties was ^raj(3r
Ebeuezcr Allen, (the same who captured a part of the
retreating garrison of Ti after Saratoga) and on July 1,
1780, he wrote to headquarters as follows :
"Sir, I received intelligence by a Scout last Evening
which came from Lake Champlaiu, that they saw two
large Ships lying near Crown Point last Sunday at 12
o'clock, and two Tenders. The two Large Vessels had
aV)out ten Batteaus to each of their Sterns. The next
Day they saw one of the Ships and one Tender sail
down toward St. Johns, the other fell down as far as
Iiaymouds Mills, there cast Anchor; Also a large mast
Boat went to the Shore and landed a Xumber of Men
and made Fives."
So we see that Raymond's Mills was a place still
well known, although Eaymoud himself had been gone
for.r years, and we suppose the settlement to have been
deserted. The two laige ships may have been the
Rouol Geonje and the lufv.riJdi;, and it is probable that
tlie whole flotilla had just returned from taking Sir
John and his forces to St. John's, with their wretched
prisoners. S'uno of the men brought with them their
own wives and children and slaves, hitherto left in the
enemy's country, and forty of the Rcn'al Greens carried
knapsacks packed with the Johnson plate, which had
])een baried on the flight of the family at the i)eginning
of the war.
In October the scouts reported the whole British
tleet moving up the lake, eight large vessels, twenty-six
iJat-boats and more than a thousand men, commandtj
ufi jiJSTony OF WKsrroRT
by ^Major Carlotoii (ne])liew of Sir Guy). Tliis \vas in
protoL-Liuuof Sir John Job nsou, again ravaging; upou tlir
Mohawk. The keen eyes of the scouts of Clinton
peered out at the king's ships from nin,ny an unsus-
pected thicket, and stole along tlie shore in skills like
the Rangers of a generation before. Col. Ale.Kander
Webster, writing to Gov. Clinton Oct. 24, 1780, says
that the scouts "moved frcnn thence to Buliwagga and
Grog bays, liayment's Mills and its vicinity. The last
scout informs that they rt-connoitered those bars and
other parts of the \Ai(^ froiu the Beautiful Elm in Pan-
ton."
The movements of the British upon the lake caused
grave concern among the Continental forces to the
south, greatly increased by the sus{)icion tliat Vermont
was listening to overtures from commissioners of the
crown. All the next snmmtjr the flteet sailed up and
down the lake, sometitiifs making ahirming feints, but
in reality dniiig very little thimage. If the diplomacv
of the Yerinout leaders served to protect the Grants
from the incursions of tla- enemy, the deserted condi-
tion of the Wfstern <hore, as well as the mountain
barriers, operated to the same end. Lieut. Haddun, one
of Burgoyue's otlicers. wrote in his journal when he
came through the lake, "It niay not be iniproper to
remark that there are but veiy tV-w settlements on the
lake, not -20, and thox; (»nly single Houses," and settU-
ment upon the frontier of ccun-se ceased entirely dur-
ing the \v;il-.
In Oetelu-i .-[ ITsl an vXj.re-- arrived from the south
jusTOiiY OF WEsrrnirr lu
to Gouerul St. Loger ;it Ticoudero;;^, bearing the intol-
ligeii'je of the sui'ren(.ler of CoruwaUis. lus^tantly ho
embarked liis men and stores and sailed away to Can-
ada, and for the last time ships Hying the banner of
I'^ughmd sailed past onr shores.
Late in July of 17S3, while the treaty between Great
Britain and the United States was still pending. Gen.
George Washington aiado a m.rtheru tour, visiting Ti-
conderoga and Crown Point, aecoiu])auied by Gov.
Geoige Clinton and some of his generals. "I could not
help," he says, "taking a more couteiuplatlve and ex-
tensive view of tlie vast iidand navigation of these
United States." And so he stood upon the ramparts
of Crown Foiiit, with Clinton at his side, and looked
away down the beautiful lake upon the outline of our
Coon mountain and North Shore, with the glittering
blue of the Narrows, through which Arnold's ships came
so gallanth" seven years before. He saw the sliore
where la}- the l>arning Cuwjrcsx, and Ikj thought with
agon\- that if out- shot luid found the. heart of the lead(.-r
on that day, the I'lilfnrc would never have dropj)ed
down the Hudson in another October with a traitor on
lionrd. And writing to a friend u]»on his return, in al-
lusion to this trip, he s;iys that he "could not but be
struck with the goodness of that Providence which has
<lealt her favours to us with so i)rofuse a hand. Would
to Cr)d we ujay have wisdom enough to im|)rove them."
With these wise and reverent words closes for us the
last sc.jue of the Pievi^Iatiou.
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C\0.-(«^~t«."'vwaev^vv)OC^ I'^OO
7.^0 jfiSTOicY OF WKsrroirr
V.
Orig:mal Patents.
The tonitoiy of "Westport contains twelve patents
and two tracts. Tlio townsliip is divided bj an east-
aud-west line into tv/o nearly equal parts. This line
runs west from a point on the lake shore just north of
the mouth of the Koisington brool; to tlie western
boundary of the town. South of this line lie the Iron
Ore Tract, and the patents of Skene, AVoolsey and
Gilliland. North of it lie two patents of Jonas Morgan,
two of Phut TiOgers, the patents; of Daniel McCormick,
of John Livingston, {kI'ui.s Kelly and De Lancey, nj'ws-
Taylor and Kimball,) and of Rob Lewis,, and the Split
Bock Tract. These tracts and patents are shown in
the Atlas of Essex County, 1870, where their outlines
have been verified by coasultin<7 mauy an old map of
the first surveyins.
BESSBOKO. Two thousand three hundred acres.
First sui\-ey, JiHie, 1701; first grant, February, 1765,
from the crown to William Gilliland. Second survev,
September, 17SG ; granted by the vSt.ite of New York
to William Gillilau'l. Tliis 'pat^-nt was not only the one
first surveyeil au.l grantmh but tlie one first settled, both
tem[)orarily and permaiKMitly. It lies on the south-
eastern border of the town, between the lake and the
mountains.
SKENE'S PATEN1\ Two thousand four hundred
acres, grantetl to Maj<u- IMiilip Skene "pursuant to a
Warrant frum \\\- K-..-.!l.'ncy the Ki-ht Ib.n.'ral.)!-
HISTORY OF \vi:sri'oirr ir>i
John, Eail of Dauiuore, etc., bearing date tli«' 19th
(lay of Jane, 1771." It liacl been surveyeil l>\' ISiinon
Metcalfe, Deputy of Alexander Colden, and lay directly
north of BessboiC), extt.'ndiii-^ northwarJ ahmi;- the shore
to the head of the bay. The field Jiotes describe it as
King "about three miles to tlie south of tlie Narrows."
There are two ancient maps showing this pateut. One
is in the otlice of the Secretary of State in Albany, oat-
lining the shores of Lake Chaniplain froin Crown Point
to Northwest bay, and showing by red lines two pat-
ents granted to Philip Skene, a larger and a smaller,
the larger being the oue already described. The smaller
patent is called "Skene's Ore Bed Patent," and covers
the ore beds on fhe lake shore now in tlie town of Mo-
riah,but l)elonging to \Vest])ort until 1819. It contains
six hundred acres, and its survey line be^au "at a Tree
marked with the letters W. G., standing on the West
liank of the said Lake on the South side of the Mouth
of a small Prook where it vents it«;elf into Lake Cham-
plain, comuiotily c;illeil Be;iver Br(.)o!;." This seems to
mean our Mullfip. brook, and the tree was doubtless
marked by (.rilliland with his initials when Bessboro
was surveyed in 17(J4. A copy of this ma}> is owned
by the Westjxnt Circulating Library.
The second map of Skene's larger patent has been
preserved l»y the deseendauts of the surveyor who drew
it. and a copy of it is here given. It shows the tirst
«livisiou *)f the [lateut into lots, and we call it the "Piatt
llogers map" l^ecause wo believy that it was drawn by
hiij). The Work U!>on the ori'.dnal is vciv tint.', and
iry2
niSTonr of ]\i:sTjv,}rr
could liot be adequately reprodncecl upon the aeooui-
pauying plate. The patents are outliupd Mitli red and
yellow shading, and tlie little pictures are done in sepia
and water color, with the names written with a fine
quill pen. The fish, the ship, the deer, the Indian and
tiie bear are recognizable at a glance, but it is open to
doubt whether the animal near the ponds is a beaver,
and tliat pu tlie lake shore a wolf or a lynx. The lots
are numbered from one to sixteen, and marked with
the names of the owners : Melaucton Smith, Zephaniah
Piatt, Nathaniel Piatt. George Freligh, Piatt Rogers,
\^ dliam Thorn, Stephen Aikins and Simon P. Peeve'
(Lots No. 4 and 15 are marked as having been sold to
John Halst,3ad.) Tliese eiglit names of the original
owners give us the key to the history of the map, since
we know that five out of the eight were amou- the
'•twelve patriarclis" of Piattsburgh. Melancton Smith
Zephaniah Piatt, N'athaniel Pratt, Plait Pogers and Si-
mon P. Peeve met with seven other men of p^-opertv and
lutlueiK-e at the house uf Zephaniah Piatt in Pou-hkeep-
SU-, December 80, ITS-band th.re planned thefuture citv
at the mouth of the Sarauae. Zephaniah Piatt and mJ-
lancton Suiith were both member.^ of the Provincial
Congress of New York i.i 1775, were distinguished bv
their patriotic activity throughout the Pevolution. and
were chosen members of tiie Cuistitutiohal Convention
cf 1. .8. Aftei the. war was over these men, with oth-
or.s, forn-.ed a large land company for tiie purchase of
■ il.tary grants on Lake Champhiin, and obtained pos-
^ 1-th the h.rg.r and tlie smaller patents of
ni
Ses>i
II I sit ) in' OF WKSTl'Oin' ir,:;
I'liilip Skene, ooufiseatecl by the state nijder the attain-
der of Andrew ami Plii]i[) Skene. These }iatents seeiu
iveiitually to have passed into t]ie hands oi Piatt
I'locrers.
This is the earliest map indicating individnal owner-
shiji of onr soil, Avith the exce{)tion of the nia]> of Dess-
I'Dro. wliicli is a mere tnitline. It gives onr shore line
frv. lu the head of the bay, a litth* novtli of the viHage,
--cnthward to Coil's bay and th.e island, showing akso
tlie northern part of Bessboro, with tliree buildings at
the mouth of the l>rook, exactly where llaymond's Mills
stood before the Revolution. Two dwelling houses are
drawn as if from actual observation, one with one
chimney and the other with two, and the mill is marked
'Osgood's Mill." No other trace than this have I been
able to discover of any man named Osgood in our his-
tory, although he ought probably to be recorded as our
tirst settler after the devolution. The trail from this
.-settlement to the place where the village now stand.-;, in-
<licated by a dotted line, is very interesting, as showing
the first ])ath worn l»y human foot within onr borders.
It must have followed blazed trees through a thick for-
est, and ran betvveeu the present "lake road" and "mid-
dle road" for mr)st of the wa^-. Perhaps the island was
named from an abundance of wild cherry trees upon it,
I'looming like fair3-land every s})ring.
The date of the map has been assumed to be 17S5,
although it may have been drawn the year before.
That it cannot have bt.'cn made later Me infer fr(>m the
fact that Ibzckiah Barber riH'cted jiennau-iit buildings
/•>/ iiisToin' OF WKsrroirr
;!t tliH en<l of l>avhr'i-'s i)oiiit in i\\e sj)rii!^f of ITSf). I(
these bniltliiJi:;s l);ul bntM) staH(liu<^ whan the uiap was
iiijule, the tiiap-ujakp)- v.onld ct'itaiuly have ])nt them
in, since the inaj) v.as used i)i'iuci])ully to show to
woakl-l)e settlors, whom the ))roi)rietovs were ti'vin^ to
induce to luiy h)ts, and the more tljickly setth;d th^^
••otiutry could be ma'le to aj^iiear, the move attractive it
wouM surely be.-^
WOOLSEY'S PATENT. Six hundred acres, lyin-
west of Skene's patent, and now traversed liy the high-
way and the raihoa 1. On the map it is shown as cov-
erinij; t.vo hirj.;;*.- [)onds, but tliis is a mistake of the sur-
veyors, who cannot liave drawn it from actual survev.
Tliis patent Ijelon^ed to Melanctou Lloyd ^Vool-
sey, wjjo served as an otlicer in the llevolution, a)id
was aid to Gov. C'lintrui. His fatnily came from Lou^
island, like the Platts, with whouj thev were C(innected,
* rhc history o£ tliis r.iap is r.ilhti <:iirious. It descended from Piatt Ro>ftrs to
his soil, Aniinias Uo^cfT.-, and ttit-n to his {grandson, I'lalt Rogers Halstciid. After
the death of t!ie lattT !>• I'^-io, ihe ni ip was kept among- tiie papers of his «isttr,
Mrs. Mi e^ M'K. Sawjer. lis practical use was t)y this time superseded, bur it
was treasured bv the f.imilv :i^ a relic. Upon the death of Mrs. Sawyer, in 1S70, r
passed into the possession of her oidest son. Pi.ntt Kogers Halstead Sawyer, nf
Bedfoid, N'. V. He died in iS~>5, and the fair.iiy soon alter moved to Cluc.ijro. I'l
i>99, when enjjatjed in the prejaration of a jfencalosical record, the writer fi;und
that the map was still CHrcfully kept in the family, and was afterward favored hv
the loan of ic (ruin Lea Hulsti ad Savvye.r, the ^rcat-gre.it-grandson of the maker.
An ai tempt u is made to have Uie map photojrraphed, but it was so creased inli'
f -Ids that llic result wa^i en'.irely unsatisfactory. Then the plan was adopted <;f
having an exact copy m .de by haiui, and the copy photographed. We were frrt'i-
nate in hnunn; a resident of Westpotl who was aide to copy the map with the most
exiiuisiie tideiitv, icproducin^ it exactly as it must hive appeared when the sur-
veyor lified his liand fioi'i his ia>-t stroke upon it. This copy was boujfht by Mi»s
All ■« f-ee und presented to the villakjc library, and a photograph of it w i.s used f"r
111.- copv ;:iven 111 -.hi.s ^o^^. Ail th.. v. ,rk \v is d>iie by Mr. Clarence Un-lerwood,
plu tosrra ihcr a: W.idhams. .\h:is.
iiisroin' OF wi:sTjv}/rr ir,.->
iiihl he was ]n-oiniiient amoiip; tlic tfuly citizens nf
iMatt.sbnrgli, living to fif:;lit niaufully in the war of 1S12
as a Veteran Exempt. His son, Lt. Mehmctou Taylor
Woolsey, became clistingnished in the same war. One
cannot help remarking upon the name ]M.elanetou, oc-
curring with such unusual frecjuency in the early part of
iMir history. The gentle Philijt Melauchthou, who tem-
perecl the fierceness of ^Favtiu Ijuther's reforming zeal.
t!iust have been a favorite historical character in the
generation preceding the llevolntion.
LIVINGSTON PATENT. Upon a map in the of-
tlce of the State Engineer, "copied from a map of Piatt
Piogers,'" a large grant runs noi-thwest frctm the head of
the bay, erossii'ig the Bocpiet and stretching away into
Lewis. Lpon it is written : "John Livingston tic Asso-
ciates. 7iOO Acres Surveyed IIGS, CTranted 17S7." It
is uY)on this patent that the village of Wadliams Mills
n(jv\- stands. Its widtli extends, on the lake shore, from
Ht-adlands to the canter of the viHajze of West{)ort, its
Western boundary touching the north line of SkeneV
patent. John Livingston was doubtless one of the
Livingstons of Livingston ^Mauor, one of the uiost in-
tlueutial families of that day. The pa.tent is
more commonly called the Kelly and I3eLancey
|>atent, and these u^ay be the names of previous owners,
since in the chapter upon Land Titles in Smith's His-
tory of Essex County it is said that "John Kelly and
John DeLancey obtained a patent for 7000 acres on
the ISth of July. 17SG. The description of the tract
betrius at the Pav de Poches Eemh-e riiid lie^ in a
h'ui lusTom' OF WEsrroiri'
northwest course from tlie villR<^e of We.st)><jrt." ])e-
L.iucey was iit cue time a name to conjure with in tlio
lu^t^)ry of New Amsterdain, beinp; that of a powerful
royalist I'annly. It is more than likely that the patent
was one of disputed ownership for a number of years.
Ill the county atlas it is called the Taylor and Kimball
patent, and these were doubtless its latest owners be-
fore it was sold oT to settlers.
Mccormick patent. Upon the same map a
patent lying west of the Liviugstf^n patent, and running
parallel with it. evidently surveyed at the same time,
is marked "Daniel McCormick A: Associates. 4000
Acres, survi;ye.l 17GS, granted 17S7." Daniel McCor-
mick was a laud speculator on a large scale, receiving
immense grants of land in Fi'anklin and St. Lawrence
counties. The patent is boun.led on the south by Skene
and on the west by Jonas Morgan.
PLATT 1U)G1:KS J^VTENTS. Tliese lie in the
northeast part of the town, one of sixteen hundred acres
on tlie north towii liuf, taking in all the tillable laud
between Split Pock range and Coon mountain, and the
other (ju the north shore of the bay, extending from
Headlands to Pock lIa!l)or. The latter was probably
secured to gain I'ontrol of the western landing of the
ferry b.'tu^'en Pasia Harbor and Piock Harbor. Piatt
Pogers rectdved txttusive grants of land in return f>)r
his servic-'s to th.i statf in laying out roads, and. showe<l
a tine disc-rimiii;iti..i, in picking out the best laud for
himself. He is said to have received 73,000 acres in
this way. /] his iiiay w.'U da/./le th..; virion of iinpecu-
iifsrony or WKsrroirr jr>T
nious cksceiulaiits, but we inust roineml.er tliut in manv
jrspects tlic I/uul was absr.lutely valueloss, and even
lial)le to l)econie an embarrassment to its owner. Pei-
li.il.s its most enviable return was in the permanence
iriveu to hisuame, stami)e(l as it is on some of the fair-
est scones of this re-.n"on.
^ EOB LEWIS PATENT. A small square patent of
this name is shown on the lake shore of the Split Rock
nmge, near Rattlesnake Den and the ore bed in the
atlas of 1S7('..
JOHN WILLIAMS PATENTS. Two small square
patents, one of two hundred acres and the other some-
what larger, are cut out of the eastern jiortion of th<-
L-on Ore Tract, and cover tlie country of the ancient
Stacys and Nichols. John Williams was associated
with Piatt Rogers in certain land enterprises, and after
the death of the latter his heirs carried cm fur maiiv
y.'.us litigation for the recovery of funds, but without
success.
JONAS MORCUN PATENTS. Two patents in the
northwest of the town, ah.ug the Black river, bear this
ii.une. The larger was of four thousand eight hundred
acres, and covered all tlie farming lan.l of the western
I'.-irt, stretching acrc.ss the Black river into Elizalu^th-
t<.wn. It A^as granted him in 1790, and in 180S he re-
ceived a smaller one, of .seven hundred acres, corner-
ing on the first and running across the river into Lewis.
Thes,. were the latest gra-ts made of any portion of our
soil, and Jonas Morgan was the cnly owner of one nf
the ol■^giIialpat^^nts who settled upon th.' land lu' owned.
v-'^' Jiisrojn' OF WL'STroh'T
]fe was our livst manu facta rev of iion, Imilding a iox^^:
on ]jis larger }>ateut, on the wosterii bank of tlie river,
;it the phioe to whicli 3[eigs came half a century after-
ward. The .snjaller patent was granted ou coudition
that a furuaee for casting "pig iron, hollow ware am]
stoves" should be built uj)ou it within three years, and
we know that he built a forge, known for years a<
"Morgan'^'s New iMji'gf^," at the place which we now call
Ijiainard's Forge.
SPLIT liOCK TRACT. After the best land had
been sold oti' in patents, the reniaiuder formed tuo
tracts, like bones left after the meat has beeu jjicked
away. Surely th.> Split Rock Tract is bony enougli,
all rocks and mountain tcjps and forests, with a spiink-
liug of ii\Mi ore and rattlesnakes. Not a single highway
maintained by the town penetrates the Split Eock
range. One good road there is, leading in to the Hun-
ter place and liock Har])or, but it is a private road,
kept up the owners .)f the l)rap,,rty, and crossed by two
gates. Trails wind through the v:dleys and along
the mountain sides to the quarry and to the iron
n)ine, showing what the first roads of the early settlers
must have beeji b.doic the wildness of the forest was
suljilued,
IRON Oin: TRACT. This immense tract covers a
third of the township, stretching over the southwestern
part <;f \V<-st[)ort, th.' southeastern part of Elizabeth-
town an I th.> novthfun part of Moriah. It is well
!iam.-d, for beneath its rugg.-d surface lie millions of
i"'-^ '■•' ''••"'■ It i.-, likf the >,tori.'s of wond-'rful fairv
iiisTom' i)F wr.srroirr i.vi
troasuro liidilen uwav in caves in the liowds of tli.-
earth, over whicli a spell has been cast so tlint no inoit.d
.shall ever reach it and carry it away. And the wcnl
which cast the spell was this, — Tif'nii/'vrons.
There is an iuterestitio; map of the Iron Ore Trai-t,
luade ])robahly in 1810, which now hangs in tiie vilhig.-
library. It sliows a careful and accurate survey of
this tnountaiuous region, a wilderness of rocks, hills,
brooks, ponds and marshes, whose scenic value was
small in the eyes of the first settlers in comp;trison with
the iron mines so fondly believed in. The T)-act is di-
vided into 234 lots, and in many cases the names of the
[mrchasers of the lots ;ire marked upon the ])ai)er now
so worn and yellow. Some of them are Westport
names, like Stacy and Douglass and Hatch, but the
most famous name upon the map is that of llach. Tliis
means the Theophylact JJache who w.-i.s a member of
tho Provincial Congress, the proceedings of which may
be read iu tlie ponderous volumes of tln^ American
Archives. He was en the C'ommitlct of Correspond-
ence with the riatts of Ducht-ss county. Js.-iac I^ow,
I.saac Iioosovelt and other well-known names. He, ir
seems, dabbled in speculation in northern lands, and
his name is well worth mentioning, if onlv for the sake
of adding its sonorous syllables to our li>t. Surely it
will be hard for Fame to pass entirely hy ;i township
which can show in its earliest recoid such names a>
Ananias, Zai)haniah, blailorus. H'zdviali, Tidinghist,
Melaucthou and Tiieophylac-t !
©eftntl: I?-ii»t..
178B— XQ03.
"7\ach lilt fi> srt fin (<»■(,/ c<>Ii,r iritJinnf Jj,!,,,/ hUn'l
In till' (inter li'/hf/'
-Dr. V».,i 7)i/h-\- Pnuin:
///sToin' OF M'ESTi'ojrj' /^
The Folks I Used to Ivnow.
I knoF lots of folks in the city,
As pleasant as folks can be.
And YOH can"t claim to be lonesome
With thousands for com])aav.
But it's true that 1 f^et homesicls.
Once in a while, to go
Where I can meet in the viilao-c street
The folks 1 used to knowT
Some thiutrs happen over aud over,
In the ^n-iad of God's great mills,
Like Christmas, and Sunday, and taxes,
And disappointments, and biils.
We've many a chance to be happv,
And mauy to be forlorn.
Ikit you'll have but one, oni- mother,
And just one place to be born.
When spring com.vs stealing northward.
And tai)s at my oflice door,
I think of melting ioe-caKes,
Piled up on a rocky shore.
And when there's a hint of winter
in. oue or two frosty davs.
I wish I could see old Camel's Hump
Through an Indian Summer haze.
For I was born in a little town
On the shore of Lake Champlain;
The prettiest spot on God's green earth
That knows His sun and rain.
Oh to see North Shore again.
•And Bluff Points cedai-s green,
And the sea of glass, 'neath suuset tires.
Shin iug and still, between!
ItCI
^''^ lUSTOHY OF MlJSTJ'Oirr
To feel iu the early niornino-
A wind of dawn pass bv,
And push out a boat in theVippIes.
- Aud float away silently.
Then u'hon the suu sbiues'over
The hill-tops of Vermont,
To feel that you've had your vision.
And it's breakfast that you want.
Last time that I went fishing,
.On the reef in Pattison 'sbav.
\ou oiicrht to havp seen the si.K-puuiid pike
,, . That put himself in mv way!
Hand over hand I pulled him in.
And his si/.e bej.,'un to show;
'"Hello!" says I, ''come in out of the wet'
You "re a fish 1 used to know!"
Partincr graveyard grasses
To read a familiar name.
I .said. •' 'Tis a lovely spot to sleep,
\\ ben past earth's praise or blame "
And thinking on the quiet dead,
Where friends and kindred lie,
1 prayed. --OLord, not mine the lot
In the stranger's laud to die!"
Kiver, the hope of heaven
Preaehers might paint more fair,
U thev v.ould only promise
"Twould seem like old times there
And I'm sure 'twill be a comfort.
When my time has come to o'o
^''* ^n'V'"/n'''^'r' "■'"^^^' ^" the gt.lden street.
Ihe folks I used to know.
II I STORY OF WKsrrol^t Jury
VI.
Early Settleniem.
1785-1815.
We now come to the second part of our history, and
that part wljicli most nearly concerns us as a peo]>le,
the story from the first settlement to the conditions of
our own day. We shall deal no lon^^cr with the famous
people whose names are to be found iu histories and
encyclopedias, but with the familiar, every day folks
who came here and cut away the forests and cleareil
the farms ami settled down to make the town what it
is to-day, and whose d^\scendauts we iLaily meet upon
our streets. This is what we really care for in a town
history, anct it is the only thing which makes it worth
while to write such a book.
We can never truly undeistan.l our •)wu hi-tory with-
out making a careful study of the story <,)f the first set-
tlements. Who were the men who ilrst came to these
shores for homes, with what ruling ideas, what cher-
lislied beliefs, did they enter upon their new life here,
and what was the old life which they had left behind ?
To quote from au article iu a recent magazine, ''Begin-
nings of American Literature," by George Edward
\\'o(jdl)erry,
"Everything begins iu the middle— to ada])t a wis-^
saying — like an epic })oem. That is the central trutli
of human }'^'rs[)eL'tive. (Ipeu history where you will,
166 111 STORY OF WE ST r OUT
and tlieve are always men streaming over the mountains
or over the sea from some liorizou, bringing v.itli tlieni
arms and cattle, battle-songs and prayers, and an im-
aginary world ; their best treasui'e is e\er the seed of.
some last year's harvest."
And wo fiml that the battle-sougs and the prayers,
the weapons actual and ideal, brought in by onr first
settlers were those of X<-w England directly after the
lievolatiou — the New Enf^land not only of the Pilgrim
Fathers but of Bunker Hill, with old England forgotten
as a mother country, and with the Puritan church and
the Puritan town meeting already familiar as a back-
ground of civic life. This mainlv, but v/ith a modify-
ing element, slender but strong, clearly discernible to
one who knows our history by heart, of the ruling ideas
of the dwellers along the Hudson, which were never
those of New England in the last analysis, but were
much niore feudal in r(.<:,''rd to social structure and much
luore lil'Oral in religious vlogma.
The aunals of om^ lunidred and twenty-seven years
which follow must be given too minutely to bring out
the etl'octs of these subtly ditlering influences, but to
the writer every C(niMn()n[)lace name and incident has
had a certain signitican(M^ connected \\\i\\ its known or
imagined source, lending:; it an inner illumination whicli
no stranger could ever be made to understand. This
by way of ajxdogy for tlie fact, quite evident to tht-
writer, that she will not be able to make the story of
modern ^\'estport as interesting to other people as it
HLSTORY or WKSrroUT lii7
lia.s aiifiiilii!|^ly been to liersclf. And so now to our
story.
1785-1800.
The first permanent settlement upon the soil of West-
))ort was made on the lalce sliore, at Barber's Point, not
far from the i)resent site of the liglit-lionse. The lake
at this place is less than two niiles M-itle, and the first
settler came from Yeroiont shore, landing on the sontli
side of the point. He liad travelled all the way from
Harrington, Litchfield county, Connecticut, a distance
of over two hnndrHd miles. He must have bought liis
land of Gilliland, as he settled upon Bessboro. \Yhy
lie came wt^ (;annot tell. 1 in mediately after the Eevo-
tion there was a wonderful impulse of pioneering and
emigration which was felt all o'ser ^sew England, lead-
ing men to forsaki:! their old homes and plunge into the
wihlerui^ss as their fathers had done before thorn. Thi-i
first settler canut^t have carried an elabor;ite outfit, but
he had at least a gun and an axe, to protect him from
wihl beasts and to make a clearing on the edge of the
foi'cst. And to-day you may find his great-great-grand-
children on ii part of the land that he (deared.
This man was Major Hezekiah Barber. He was ii
major of militia in Connecticut, and always retained
his title. He came first in the spring or summer of
17So, and worked at clearing the land until winter came
on, when he went back to Connecticut. The next ye^r
he rt'turned with his wife's broth. -r, L-ni Frisbie, an 1
1(>S inSTORY OF WKSTPORT
the}- woiktHl togetlier, cuttiii^^ wood all winter, liviLg in
a bark shauty ami building a log cabin near the shore,
of "ba^swood logs split in the middle, and laid with the
fiat sides up." Another cabin was also built as a shel-
ter for cattle. In the sj.ring of 1787 the young wife of
Major Hezekiah, whose maiden name had been Hulclah
Trisbie, came all thai long journey from Connecticut on
liorseback, carrying her first baby in her arms, and
took possession of the logdiouse. The household goods
rdso came, in one load, drawn by oxen. The first crops,
raised were put in with a "grub hoe" in tlie spaces bt-
tween the blackened stumi)s of the clearing. Grain
\vas carried to Middlebury, in Vermont, to be ground,
and as only one horseback load could be carried at a
time, the fanjily often ground their own corn in a large
"Indian mortar" ^-liich was found somewhere near, witli
i.n iron pcsth'. Tiicir nearest neighbors, who must
have come soon after the P.arbers, were a family named
Ferris, living in a log house at Coil's bay, near Eay-
mond's old settlement. There was also the Ferris fam-
ily directly arn;ss the lake, at Arnold's bay, who had
settled there before the llevolutiou.
When He/.ekiah Darbor first came, this bit of earth
vhich we now call ^^ estj^ort was merely an unnamed
fraction of the immense county called AYashiugton
which covered botii sides of Lake Champlain. After
lie had been hen- tlnve years, (that is, in 1788.) the
county of Clintcn was formed, comprising the present
territory of K-,>f\ .-uid Clinton counties and a part of
Franklin. Thr .•..nuty ..oat of this large countv wa>
iiisTonY OF wh-srroirr ihu
Plattsburgli, and it was divided iuto four towns. Tlu-
t'.wii ill which Barber lived was Cr(.)wn Point, uj'-asur-
111^ about uiue iiundred square ttiiles, and eovrrin^ all
tilt' southern part of the present Essex count}-. The
lirst town meeting was hehl in Decendjor of 178S, at
d'iconderoga, and if Barber, and the t\vc> or throi> other
men who may liave been at the Point and at Raymond's
^iilU at that time, voted at al), they v/ent jn a boat to
'J'i to do it. The election way held in ilie "old King's
.■>torc," a quaint, low-roofed stone buikling o\\ the s]n_"^rt^
of the lake, which hud been erected bv the Trench in
1755, when they built Fort Carillon; At the time of
the town meeting this buildiijg was occu[)ied by Judge
Charles Hay, a brother of that Col. Udney Hay whoi-e
allidavit we have seen in regard to the Ilaymoijd settle-
nient.
"Whei! Barber had been here ten years (179.")) the
.'lumber of voters in the wh(de gre-d county of Clin-
ton was only six hundred ami twenty-four. When lu
]jad been here thirteen years, enough settlers had conu'
in to justify the formation of thetownof Elizabethtown,
^•onijnising the present townships of Elizabethtown and
Wfstport. The first town meeting was held April i),
17113, "at the duelling house of David Callender," wliicli
])robably stood somewhere west (»f the I'dack rivei.
That Hezekiiih Barber went to this town meeting we
iiiay safeh' infer from the fact that he was elected to
three otBces. Th-e list of town officers is as follows :
Supervisor, Ebenezer A?nold ; clerk, Sylvan us Lob-
Jell ; us^^essors, J:icol> SoutLiwe)], David Callender,
170 uisTOHY OF Mi-:srr()irr
Nurmaii Xewell ; overscer-s of the pooi', .Jonuthari Bitck-
inridge, Hozekiab Barber ; coustablo aud ct>lleetor,
Nathaii Lewis ; constable, Thomas Hinckley ; school
commissioners, E. Xywell, William Kellogg, Hezckiah
Barber ; overseers of highways, (luunbeved from one to
ten,) John S;inty, X. Hinckley, John Potter, S. Lob-
dell, Joseph Duraud, Simeon Durand, Jacob Seture,
Joseph Bangbnrn, E. Xewcll, Stephen Eldridge. Fence
Viewers, Hezekiab Barber, Elijah Bishop, Elijah Bich.
No doubt the town oilices were distributed imparti-
ally to all piirts of the township, and this list })robably
includes eveiy man tit to hold office in its whole area.
AVe may imagine this first town meeting as bearing a
general resemblance to the one first held in the immor-
tal town of Dan% is, as reported by Bowland E. Bobiu-
son, in the words of the veteran ranger, Gran'ther Hill.
"Not over twenty on us. all told ; au' we hel' it in a
log barn 'at stooil t'other side the river, on Moses Beii-
ham's pitchy an' we sot raoaud on the log mangers, an/
the dark writ on the head of a potash berril. We
hodn't no sech tix-ui'i^ances as these 'ere," poniidiug
the seat with his fist ; "an' as fur that 'ere," punching
the stove with his cane, ''we jest stomped raound t«>
keep warm, an' ditlu't fiwl away much time no louger'n
we was 'bleegeil ti^."
For the lu-xt two years, 1700 and 1800, the super-
vis(M' was "E. Newell," iprol-ably Ebenezer). In ISQi it
was Elijah Bi^iiop, in 1802 Charles Goodrich, aud froni
180:^ to ISiK'i it was none other than our friend Heze-
Jv.iai;. 'I'liU-- W'.- >e-.' tliat he attained the crowning am-
msroin' of WKsrpoirr ni
! i:i.»ii of eveiT good American cltizcu—tbat of hoiu^^
. uot.cl supervisor of his oww towu,— and tliat he hehl
•Im- onice threft years. In 1799 Essex county had boeu
f.'vuied, with the county seat at Kssex, and so uiieu e
-.it in council with the other supervisors iu the county,
hv \\ flit to Essex, • an<l it is luore Ihaii likelv tliat \w
w.-nded his way thither in a boat, perhaps iu liis
"•.vn ferry boat, wldcli furnished him a f^ood incotue car-
rying,'passengers and freiglit across the lake. Hu lived
tive years after his jast term as supervisor, dving iu
l^U), and he vv-as buried at the Point, only a feu- steps
li-'U) the place where he landed twenty-five years be-
tf'ie. Iu that twenty -five years he had seen a great
*-li;inge come over the face of the country, from utter
^^l!dness and desolation to a fair degree of eixilization.
At the time of his death the centre of population for the
>liureof the town was at Barber's Point, the settlement
■■'. Coil's Mills being then larger than that at Northwest
J!;ty. The first steamer on the Jake, (and the second
ill the world.) had been bnilt two years before he died,
'■iiid made a regular landing at the Point, but jjone at
thf Bay.*
•Hc/.ekiah Barber had si.v children, and ns they all married and seUUd here. th«
i iriuly record in it:.e!f, if given in fuji, would rnaks a chapter of town history. The
■'l-irst.Jcrusbi, married Alexander Younjf, who settJcd on the north sJiore of
^ o :nic's bav, and buiila house where .Mr. Ben Wormm's farm houv; no-.v stands.
r>i:s hjuse was burnej. and rebuilt by Andrew Fnsbie, son of Levi Alexander
Vounsr had a ship-y.ird in the bay, ;ind the ruina of his wharf may stili be seen.
J SaUy iu;irried Gideon Hanimond, sou oi Xathan, and lived on thebiick road,
■•» here Ruih Howard rvow lives.
J. nezekiah K.arried Maria, daufrhtcr of Til! n^liabt Cole, v.ho Uvcd on the.
i-i'«.f road, on the place now occupied by his jjre.it jfrznd>on. llepry Merrill. One
.'<'■: vrbiM-o.nvved Major Ho -ekj.ih after).:^ .^r.uuifatJ.er, siiU !i^e,ona oart
J 72 JUS TO in' OF WKSTJ'U/rr
In followiug the life of our first settler, -we now tju.l
ourselves years ahead of the story of all Westport, but
our steps are easily retraced.
Another very early settlor upon the lake shore was
•James King, at Book Harbor. He is described as "an
English lu^ister sailor," and so must have known the
smell of salt water, but he was content to nso his skill
upon tiiese tidoless waters iu sailiiig tlie ferry boat
which plied from shore to shore between Basin Har-
bor and Ixock Harbor.
The ferries were an important factor iu the develop-
ment of this regiou. They were to early Westport
what a railroad is to a new western town. The ferry at
Barber's Point, this one at Iiock. Harbor and one es-
tablished by McNeil, running from Charlotte to Essex,
were all opened at nearly the same time, and accom-
modated a rapid stream of travel flowiug from New
England into Essex corinty. Before the ferries ran, em-
igrants uore ol)liged to trust to the chances of hiring
boats wlien they reached the lake shore, unless tlu-y
came with their own bateaux, like Gilliland, whieli was
too expensive for the ordinary traveller.
oj the origin.!' Biijber proptTtv. Another, Mrs. Harriet Shcklon, has been of
j;rcal assistance in preparing the sketch of Barber's Point.
4. ALinion married Harriet Hasketl, anil his daughter Maria married Ruel
Arnold. They lived in the brick house on the middle road now owned by the
Westi)ort Katms.
J. RhotU married John Chan.lJer.
I".. Harriet i;:arricd iwicr. >ler first husband was Amos Hokoinb, and her
daukfhlir Huldah taught school in what was perhaps the first school house in town,
on thr south iuie of the road to the ferry. Her second husband was Asahel Ha.-
\en», the ferrvir^n, who lived near the .ste.iuib^at v/harf at Northwest B-ny.
lusTORY OF wsirrmirr ir.i
Watson says, in bis history of the county, "Li 179i>,
rhitt Rogers cstaV)lishe(l a ferry from Basiu Harbor,
aiul constructed a road from tlie jandiiig to a point neai
Split Rock, where it connectj:'d with the road made in
an early period of the settlement. He erected, in tlie
same season, a bridge over the Roquet, at "\A'ill.sboru
falls, and constructed a road from tliat place t(» Peru,
in Clinton county. These services were remunerated
I'y the state, through an ai)propriation to Rogers and
his associates, of a large tract from the public lauds."
Rogers also built the first bridge over the Ausalde river,
at the Chasm.
James Ring remained at Rock Harbor only a few-
years. His wife's maiden name was Surah Black. In
1791 their second daughter was born at Rock Harbor
und named Sarah after her mother. Two years after
this the family moved to Brookfield, in Essex, and there
King died. The daughter born in Westp<.)rt grew
np to marry one of the Essex Staltbrds, and not
quite a hundred years after she was born at liock Har-
bor her grandson came to Westport to settle in the
jtlace as a physician, — Dr. Frank T. DeLauo. He has
told me that his grandmother was accustomed to relate
the fact that of her having been born at Rock Harbor,
and he has an impression that James Ring Cvime to the
place several \ears before that event, so that we have
proof of his having been one of the earliest settlers,
though probably not earlier than Hezekiah Barber.
Sometime between 1701 and 1798 ca.meDaniel Wright,
from (liJbUni, N. H., with his fauiilv and his wurldlv
174 JIIS'IOUY OF wKsri'nirr
goods. After crossing t]jo Connecticut river Le must
have followed the road aci-oss Vermont which was fust
opened by Sir Jo(l>ry Amherst, the summer of 17;V.>
from Chimney Point to the Connecticut. Wright prob-
ably came along the lake shore to Easiu Harbor and
thel-G took the ferry to Eock Harbor and then toiled
over the "Bildad road" across the Split Eock range. "••
At last he c.-ur.e to the farm lie had chosen, as stony
and rough as the uplands of New Hampshire which he
liad left, on the western slo[>e of the mountains, over-
looking tlie fertile valley of the Boquet, with the level
clearings of Essex and AA'illsboro in the distance, and
the Green mountains beyond the glimpse of the lake.
Here ho settled and cleared the laud, which remained
in the family to the time of his grandchildren. It is
now occupied by Mrs. Elbridge Lawrence.
Daniel Wright is a fiue example of the early settlers
of Essex county. Ho and his wife came first from
Connecticut, like Ih.- lloleombs, the Frisbies, the Bar-
bers and tlie Lovolar.d^. He was born in T^ebauon,
Conn., in 17.37, and his wife. Patience Bill, was born in.
Hebron in tiio same year. They moved to Gilsum, X.
H., and there he served three 3-ears in the Continental
Line. He fought at the battle of Bunker Hill, served
eight ujonths in 177.!> in the regiment of the famous Col-
John Stark, (who Inul .seen our shores as one of Roarers"
•rhli was rlx ufartsl way, but it would seem that it mit;!'.t have been easier to
coi:ie by wuv ot Kssex. It is .lUvays interesting to tr.Ace th.; route followed by the
IJionecrs when they rirst pvn^tr;ited into 1his trackless region. In the winter of
i7gj Sli.^htn Ktcsc cj.Mc from Columbia county to Peru, (north of Bessboro] ot!>
The ire, a',.'', took Ajv.ir,t.pj;.: o£ the le- (.1 hl;<hwiy of the irozcn lake.
nisT(>RY or M'KSTrnirr i7.~,
lUiU'^evs hi the "old Freuch war,") all the year 177r>
iiiiJor Col. Sanuiel Ilecd, aud iu June of 1777 his uuqu-
appears iu a New Hampshire regimeut which was sent
•*to reiDforce tlie Contiueutal Army at Ticoiidero^a."
Tliis was wheu Burgoyue's army was advauciui; up
Lake Cbamplaiu, sending out the proclamation \\ hieh
sfi aroused the country. On the 5th of July St. Clair
.-vacuated Ticonderoga, and fled to the south, pursued
l>y Burgoyne. Thus Daniel Wright was iu this Meeing
army, and also, it is probable, saw another turn iu the
fortunes of war in the surrender of Burgoyne at Sara-
toga.
He came into "Westport a man about forty years of
age, with an honorable record of military service and
the rank of Lieutenant. On March 25, 1802, lie was com-
missioned 2nd Major "of a regiment of militi;i of the
<-ounty of Essex, whereof Joseph Sheldon, Esq., is
Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant," by Gov. George
Clinton. In 1806 he was made 1st Major of his regi-
uient, aud in 1807 Lt.-Col. Commandant. In 1811 he
Mas raised to tlie high raidi of Brigadier General of
3Iilitia'in the Counties of Essex, Clinton and Franklin,
and held this responsilde ])Ositiou throughout the war
of 1812, where we shall meet him aaaiu."
*General Wright was accompanied to We-tport by but one child, his duughter
jcrusha, u-ho was born July 17, 17SS, and married De£. 22, 1795, to Kli,is Slurtevant,
0 )rn at Plymouth, Mass , June 4, i7fS^, s'ln of CorneliuB and Sarali (Bosworth)
Sturtevant. They had seven chi;dren, all born, I think, 111 Westp^rt
I. Daniel Wrijfht Sturlcvant, born ij.S, waa a physician, and practiced some
years in Westport and in Essex ; afterward went west, and died in Galesburp, Hi.
I UarriL-t, late 10 life, betan?e Ibe third wife of Dr. DiaJorus Holcomb, Nc
•'htidrf:.
170 HISTOHY OF WKSTm/ri
At tlio saniG tiino with the settlements cilong the Like
shore, pioue* rs ^vol•e eomiug iu to the valleys of tiie lio-
quet aud the Black. The strip of laud called Pleasant
Yalle}', aloug the former river, was granted Piatt Pogers
from the state on condition of its being irnmediatelv
settled, and every efibrt was made to induce reliable
men to come in, fathers of families if passible, sober, in-
dustrious, likely to remain and to pay for their faruis.
On this account tlie sale or grant of large portions of
public lands to one man, or to a land compan}- whose
prosperity depended upon the revenue derived from the
payment of settlers for their farms, was a real advan-
tage to anew eouutr}-. Nothing could bring alx)ut so
bad a condition of things as laud free to any squatter,
who felt no obligation to improve his farm, and who
might be dispossessed at any rooment bj* a second
comer who had a stronger arm or was a better shot
than he. I tind no traces of a squatter-and-lynch-lav.-
pericKl iu the tirst setllument of EHzabethtown aud
Westport. Men came in from the older colonics,
3. George VV., always known as "Deacon Sturtevant," from his long tenure oS
that office in tiie Conijre»fation;il church at Wadhains. He married Clonnd.i
Phelps, and had three chlKlren. Elinund, (lived in Vineland, N.J.,) Ci-irrie .Maria'
aud Harriet, who marrieil Dr. P..ase, a missionary to Micronesia.
4. Sophjonia, untnariLtd.
5. John Sturtevant also bore the title of Deacon for many years, fillin;^ that office
in a Congregation il church in G isport, N'. Y. He married .Mary Royce, daug^htcr
of William and .\nna Ulo.-iryJ Royce, a^xl had seven children, Daniel Writjh:,
Henry Kuc. (.Mrs. Granville CUrk), Mary, Williim Royce, Gesr^je W. an 1
Alice Linda (Mrs Webster Koyce). The cnly dsscendants of General Wri-hc
now livir.K in Es-,ex County are William K. Sturtevant and .Mrs. Webster Royce.
6. Elmira iT--irned .Mr. .Marshall.
7. .M.irii ■ii.irriud EJiiiJiid D.ty. and b,iA three, children, Chirle^, He.len a.-.".
ji/SToin' or ]v/:sTPoirr jtt
l»ouglit laii<l, built homes, aud set tliemselves to ubiJe
by laws which they took prido in inakinc;'. Town
otFicors were elected at the earliest possible op)Doi--
timit}', and among them were three men whose dutv
it was to attend to schools for the children. This
shows in it-self tiio character of t)ie new township, ami
it is plain that it would naturally attract to itself only
law-abiding citizens.
The common route for settlers from the south was
by the valleys of the vSchroou and the Boqnet. In this
way came many from Dutchess county, like Joseph
Jenks, who settled first at Pleasant Yalley,and afterward
moved to Northwest Day. The water power of the
swift flowing Black river was a great attraction, and a
rude little saw mill, wdiere the logs from the clearings
ould be cut up, was a very desirable neighbor. Partly
on this account the highlands of the back p;irt of the
town came to be settled very early. Auotlier reason was
the character of the soil. It is well-known that the
first settlers, as a rule, sought the high, sandy lands in
preference to the clay of the low lands on the lake shore.
The light loam was much more easily worked, and for
a number of years would be more productive than the
heavier soil. The water supply was sure to be good,
among the mountain springs, and it was always a wise
])rocaution to avoid the malaria of low-lying marshes.
In those days there was far more moisture in the soil
everywhere than there is now, since the country has
been stripped of its forests. Another thing that might
well be Considered in the vears close followinL;- the licv-
27S
mSTORY OF WE ST PORT
olution was the fact that the setth-^r's cabin was safer
from enemies, red or white, if it were hiddeu deep in
the forest, that it could ho if built upon the lake shore,
ID sight of passing war parties or scouts. This idea
was suggested by the historian Francis Parkman in a
conversation with Mrs. F. L. Lee upon tliis subject a
r.uinber of years ago. The substance of the conversa-
tion was giv^n. to tlie writer by Mrs. Lee, and tlie clear-
ness of Mr. Parkman's insight will be fully perceived
when it is remembered how the defeat of St. Clair in
Ohio in 1791 sent a shudder of fear through the heart
of every frontiersman, lest the western Indians should
combine with the Six Nations, and the scenes on the
older frontiers be repeated in the Champlain valley.
Thus we have at the end of the eighteenth century a
distinct advance from the stretch of primeval forest
threaded by Pobert Eogcrs and his men in the "old
French war." Xow there are mills and clearings, the
wood-chopper's axe scarcely ever sounding beyond the
reach of human ear, log cabins among the' stumps
crops of corn and ]>otatoes harvested every year, and a
few domestic animals, shielded with great ingenuity
and patienco from the wihl animals who still roam thr
woods. Honies and children, and a promise of schools
-all this with new settlers coming in from the south
or the east m a steady stream. It seems to me a
good time to have lived in Westport, in spite of the I(Kr-
houses and the wolves. Any one who has ever felt tlu-
charm of caujpingout, or who has experienced the un-
>hakablc bl... ..f setting up housekeeping for the tir.t
ITISTOnr OF WKSTl'ORT IT.t
tiine, cfin appreciate the keen flavor that there must
have been in these early days.
Besides \.\\^. signs of human life and occu|)atiou which
were beginniug to cliaDge the face of the land, a new
era could be plainly read in the life upon the water.
The Indian bark canoe, the whale boats of the Rangers,
the bateaux of Montcalm and Amherst, then Arnold's
sturdy fighting craft, with the gallant //?/A;.c//y't' and her
sister ships riding triumphant, ruling all the lake, fol-
lowed by the martial splendor of the fleet of Burgoyne,
led by the twenty-four-gun lionnl Georrjc, all these, and
many a keel uuraentioned in any record, had floated in
the waters of our bay. Now nothing but the humble
ferry-boat, making its way from shore to shore with
freight of household goods, or tlie heavy scow of
some fisherman catching his dinner of fish, was seen.
This is not nearly so interesting to read about as the
stories of more stormy times, but it was a vast deal
more comfortal^le for the people who lived liore. Bar-
ber at the Point and Iling at Rock Harbor saw each
other's sails swing and fill in the same wind, or flap idlv
against the mast in a maddening calm. Further down
the lake another sail, that of McNeil, ferrying from
Charlotte to Essex, might be discerned, and the pirogue
of the proprietors of the colony upon the Saranac made
its trips to the ore bed and back again, carrying ore to
snpply the forge which was the pride of the Saranac,
and then carrying to the south the iron which brought
the owners a hundred dollars a ton. The ore bed was
tJie one which wu now cdl "the CJofl' bed." Bhilij..
180 HISTORY OF WJJISTPORT
Skene first owned it, and at the time of which we now
write it was called, on that account, "Skene's ore bed,"
though it had belonged to the state since the confisca-
tion of Skene's property.* It was also often called the
"Crown Point bed," and it lies upon territory which
belonged to, the town of Westport until 1819.
The "piropjue" of the Plattsburgh proprietors was
the same khid of vessel c;dled in Cooper's novel, the
"Water Witch," a "periagua," and thus described :
"The periagua, as the craft was called, partook of a
European and an American character. It possessed
the length, narrowness, and clean bow of the canoe,
from which its name was derived, with the flat bottom
and lee-boards of a boat constructed for the shallow
waters of the Low Countries. Twenty years ago
(Cooper was writiug in 1830) vessels of this description
abounded in our rivers, and even now their two long
and unsupported masts, and high, narrow lieaded sail.
are daily seen bending like reeds to the breeze, and
dancing lightly over the billows of the bay.
♦Philip Skene had a forge at his colony of Skenesborough, at the head of Lake
Chaniplain, and I do not know where he got the iron ore with which to supply it
unless he brought it from his own ore bed near Crown Point. The ore was easily
obtained from outcrv">piiin<i ledgres, near the water's edg^e, and its transportation in
bjats was no great problem. If this conjecture has any foundation In truth, the
P!attsbur;{h company were not the first miners here.
In connection with this subject Mr. WinslowC. Watson made a slight mistake
somethiDij very unusual in his careful and conscienUous work. On page 439 of
his History of Ksser County he quotes from a letter "of the late Levi Hi^bv, of
WilUboro," as fallows: "A bed at Basin Harbor, owned by Piatt Rogers, was the
only deposit of iron ore which at that period (iSoi) had been developed in the whole
region. " A little rcrlertion upon the gcolojirical formation of the Vermont lit-
toral will show tJ-at it is no place tc loiik for deposits of iron ore, and a visit to
JITSTORY OF WESTPOllT jsi
"There is a variety of the class of a size and preteu-
sion altoj^ether superior to that just mentioned, which
deserves a place among the most picturesque and strik-
ing boats tliat float. He who has had occasion to nav-
igate the southern shore of the Sound must liave often
seen the vessel to wliieh we alhide. It is distin-
guished b}-' its great length, and masts which
naked of corda-e, vise from the ]iu]| like two tall and
faultless tree.. When the eyes runs over the daring
height of the canvas, the noble confidence of the rig°
^ and sees the comparatively vast machine handled with
ease and grace by the dexterity of two fearless and ex-
pert mariners, it excites some such admiration as that
which springs from the view of a severe temple of an-
tiquity. The nakedness and simplicity of the con-
struction, coupled with the boldness and rapidity of its
movements, impart to the craft an air of grandeur that
Its ordinary uses would not give reason to expect "
Later we find that th6"periagua" of Cooper's descrip-
tion iiad a lialf-dcck, and so no doubt did the vessel be-
longing to the "twelve patriarchs." It was this boat
which carried most of the passengers to and from Platts-
burgh, and upon her deck might have been met, at dif-
B^in Harbor wUl soon convince any oa.^hat there is not and never could have
been an TOO .nine in that vicinity. But the mistake came about in a v.ry natural
way. Plat: Rogers lived at Basin Harbor, a.nd owned and worked the ore bed on
i-l^enes grant, across the lake and a few miles iurther south. Mr. H.^ibv who
wa, engaged in the tirst iron manufacturing enterprise of Essex county, knew per.
fectly whence ca.,e the ore from which he made anchors in WilUhoro, but his let-
ter was wruten after a long lapse of years, and he must hive been momentarily
confused between rhe JwelUng place of Piatt Rogers and the location of h.s ore
JS2
niSTOKY OF ]Vi:STPOnT
fereiit times, many vory interesting people.- There
Aveie the Plaits. Colonel Zephaniah, the most distin^
guished of tliem all, and Captain Nathaniel, and Jud-e
diaries, who was the first comer, and who named the
town of riattsburgh, and from whose letters to his
brother Zepl^aniah so many bits descriptive of the lake
country may be gathered. He notes that the lake froze
over January IG in 1780, and that the snow was thirty-
two inches deep. Writing afterward about himself he
says, ''At the close of the war I had purchased a few
class rights of the soldiers, and having collected a little
something, set out for the woods, and after viewing
several places, 1 sat down on the west side of Lake
Champlain, an entirely new countrv and wilderness
and called the town Platt.burgh." It was this man's'
son, Charles C. Piatt, who was afterward to marry the
daughter of our Elizabeth, Eliza Koss. But that is
looking years ahead, when the periagua was a worn-
out hulk. When she was still in her prime, she must
have earned ol'ton tJie man who came closer than any
other to our history in the years before the Kevolution.
His face was «'>^^^l^_than^ when he looked from the
able U.at the UWr, a, the or. bed were often slaves. In the census of .Scathe
populauonof Essex anj Clinton countI,-5Tv=,<: a--,, ; M ^ o , " '"^ ^"'^
^ '°" ""'^t^r;s^^ as So7->. including- 5S slaves. A ma-
jomy of the s.aves w.re probably at Plattsburgh.upon the Piatt esUte. as the fan.-
..)■ are ...J to have brought forty slaves to RichUnds. It is not believed that a
.lave was ever ow.ed upon the so.l U Wostport. Piatt Ro,.ers brought h;s slaves
w.U,h.„. from Datchos, county to B,sin Harbor, but they were set f,ee by the
A..ofCongres.v..h.chad„.utc.dVer„>onta,afree.Ute in ,791. Two of 'these
saves Pr,....s.tonn and. VUly his w.f, spent the retnaindc: of their 1 v
lU.n M.b,., f..,:hf... a...d beloved friends of the fa.ily. and descendants of U.eir
niSTonr of wKsrroirr i^-v
deck of the Jf>i>,tjtihionr/e upon those fair and noodeel
shores, with wife and child beside him, nnd it was but
a wandering and meUmcholy gaze which he now di-
rected toward Bessboro. The man who had j^erhaps
sailed into North west Bay in the schooner of Major
Philip Skene,, and there stood by his side listtuing to.
tiie unfolding of plans which should make this coast
part of a nrjble principality, dependent only uj)on His-
Majesty King George, now sat in weary despondency,,
hardly realizing the truth, that the Charaplain valley
now looked to now masters for the shaping of its des-
tiny.
VTillian Gilliland had left "Willsboro in the wake of
the army retreating from Canada, in the summer of
1776. He had been imprisoned in Albany upon
a charge of treason, which seems to have been
entirely unfounded, and was kept for years in the
debtors' prison of Xev.- York. The buildirigs of tlm
settlement at Milltown were destroyed during the
course of the Iiovolution, chiefly, it is said»
by refugees fleeing f)-om the battle of Saratoga, and
were never rebuilt by Giliiland. From the moment
that he was driven from ^^'illsboro with his helpless
family, "unmerciful disaster followed fast and followed
faster" upon his footsteps. The titles to his large pos-
sessions in land liad been received from the king, and
in many cases the colonial government refused to recog-
nize them. Til us deprived of his lanU, his chief source
of revenue, he was unable to pay his debts, and found
iiiuis.lf in evil ca.-,e. Many of his letters, written dur-
i«rf
IIISTORV OF WEHTPOliT
iug Ms iu.p,.i.,o„„,e.t. ],avo been pveserved, .„., ,et
feriDg 0„t "proposal" to liis creditors, given in Wat
sou s '■Pioneers of the Champlain Valley," is addressed
o t.0 n, eresfng names as opposing counsel-Brod.
hoist Llvingslon and Aaron turr.
Iiiires hi.-, daughter Kli.abeth, after whom ho had
.amedBessboro,u.arried Daniel Koss. If she wt'
bo o «a, first surveyed, she was twenty-one at th. tin.e
of her raarr,age. Daniel Eoss had come from D to " .
ounty to settle in Essex, and in Essex the remainc
of th ,r hves was spent. Thus the descendants of our
LI .abeth were the Bosses of Essex, a fan,ily remark-
ftble lu many ways.
Keleasedfrom-tl,e debtors- prison in 1791, Gilliland
eturned to Lake Champlain to spend his last davs with
1..S daughter Elizabeth. And now the fact was"rec
u,.edt,.ath,s mind, once so strong and commandins
>as hopele.s!y aflee.ed. Lnprisonment, losses and
"ftermg, ,njns.„.e and hope deferred, had wrou^d,
he„. work upon h„n. He wandered about the tiJd
«nd woods of Essex and Willsboro, fancvin- himse f
Wk.ntheearlydaysofits settlement, ;„d'\ec:;i:"
si^ t::;::v:r;;:';;o:::'^r."r'""'^*'^"'^"^''^
. , ^ ^^^ ^^ judgment m certain
,.raet.eal n.at.ers. and he >vas often consulted in re^'d
o fi.st loeat.ons, ami early surveys and boundaries"
h . way he was often of the greatest service to the
'■""1 -"1-y fo.-d f„r ,),. p„,,,,,,,,. „„^, ^^^^j^
11 1ST (> in' OF wKS'rrojrr iso
lands in Nortlieru New York, Avbost-. adiuiiiistrativn
li.'ad ill tliis region was Plati Tiogers. Mi' luggers
tliouglit liiglilj of Mr. Gilliland, knowing tiie liistorv of
Ids labor and his misfortunes, and often asked Ins ud-
vicf. One day, about the first of February, 171)0, Mr.
("lilliland visited Mr. Rogers, going on foot across the
fiozen lake, as was his habit. There was doubtless a
well-beaten track from Essex to Basin Harbor, as all
travel invariably took to the level Hoor of the lake as soon
as it was frozen sutticiently to bear the weight of a man,
and this was the safest and most direct route that could
l)f taken. The distance is perhaps ten miles. Mr. Gil-
liland made his visit to ^Iv. Rogers and set out on his
return, but was never again seen alive after he jvassed
out of sight of the windows of the house at Bain Har-
bitr. He must have lost his way u])on the iee and
turned of^' upon the shore too socuj, wandering about in
the m(.)untaius sunth of Essex until he sank an<i per-
i^^hed from cold and exhaustion. ^Vhen his b<jdy was
discovered, several days later, it was mournfully evi-
<lent vvhat a brave straggle he had made for life. After
liis streiigth had failed him so that lie was unable to
walk, he had dragged himself aJoug until the fiesh was
worn from his hands and knees. And it was upon
Westjiort soil that he breathed his last, somewhere near
t\ie northern base of Coon mountain.
So died William Gilliland, the first colonizer of
AVillsboro, Essex and Westport. Piatt Rogers died
iwo years afterward, at I'lattsburgh, and was l>uried at
j-ix-^jn llurboi', in th.-^' burial j'lot siJU own-id by his
ISf} HISTORY OF WKSTPOirr
tles(^eiKlants (jf tlie fonrtli geiieriition. With the dt^atlj
of these two rneu, and the end of the century, the first
period of settlemeut, that of takiug up laud, may be
said to liave ended. • .1 ' .
1800-3 83 5.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century the town-
ship Avas dotted with clearings. Settlement had begun
at three points on the lake shore, determined by the
mill site at the mouth of l^a3nnonirs brook, and the de-
u^and for ferriage at Barber's Point and Rock Harbor.
Nest the high sandy land in the northwest was bought
for farming, and rapidly cleared and cultivated. Then
settlement began at the head of the bay, at what exact
date we cannot t<''l], but there is no sign of an}- house
there before tlie opening of the century. Economic
force overcame the instinctive preference of the pioneer
for the highest land he could cultivate, and led to the
clustering of houses where the principal village novi-
stands. At this }>laci,' was water power for a saw mill
aiid a grist luili, an.d there was eager demand for the
products of l^Hh. A steady current of emigration
■was setting in from the east into Essex county, an. I
for a large sharr of it this was the most convenient
jmiut of entrance. Many early settlers at Pleasant
Valley, K.'ene and Juy, coming from New England,
wished that th.- f.-rry should set th^Mu ashore in the
bav, and >j"a ihc -:.'il from liasin Hurltor cameofteue.v
' Jiisrom' OF WKsrroirr j^t
h.if tlKiii to Ilock Hjiilu.r. Tliis cieutca a (U-inan.l Un
;'ii ifj!:, fur tlie shelter of tired travelorKaiul tlieir lif;ast.s.
Ill tlu' very first years of tlu; century the iiule little
fi)r,L;es on tlie lioquet and the IJlacl; sr^uglit a port for
tlie shipping of their bar iron, and this porfc was evi-
dently at Nortliwcst Bay. These conditions led the
i>\s uors of the land to lay out the plan of a villa-e, witli
streets alou;^ which lots were soon sold.
The owners of tlie land at this time were Ananias and
Phitt ].logers,sonsof Piatt Rogers, who had died in 1798,
atid his 6on-in-hiw, John Halstead. All the land owned
iiy Piatt Piogers, Senior, in "Westport, seems to have
fallen into the hainls of these three men, but tlu^ only
one who settled here for life was Jcdm Tlnlstead, with
his wife, Phebe Rogers Halstead. Lot Xo. 10, (Me-
laneton Smith's 6i: the n;a|) of Skene's Patent,) seems
ti' lia\e belonged to Anardas and I'latt Rrigers, Jj-., and
Xo. If), (Zephaniah .Piatt's on the map,) to John Hal-
>tead, while Edward Cole bought ujton Xo. ] 1, fXa-
thaniel Piatt's).
The village was laid out and a map of it drawn b\-
Ananias Rogers,--" dated May 23, 1800. There were
thirty-four lois and three streets, Washington, Liberty
* This rcm.irliiibJe name is enoutjh is itsc-lf to prove I'uritan lineaire, with its :ic-
CQinpunying; lack of a sense of humor. It is to be feired that the preseiK genera-
tion, with its jokes about the "Ananias corner," and other tlippancies, will need to
'.le remin'ieo tiiat there arc in the New Testan^enl two mtn of this same name. The
hiM^ A.nania.s lived in Jariisaleu'., but there was mother in O.im.iscus who is thus
described : "And one Ananias, a devout man accerdin^ to the law, having a tjood
report of all the Jews which dwelt thtre." Acts 22:1a. The i^ an who first !-ur-
M'Ved our villaee streets \v,is n:\iTicd after hi- t:r;ir..,ir:jther, nnd lii^ grrindf .lUirr
r."as nai'icd aft-r An:in;ii tti Dama-jCjs.
jss nisTO/n' or wKSTPOirr
Hiul W;it.n-, the liisfc belli-- .evidently intpjulea for tn-
)iriuci|):il stve<'t. It ran v. t'stu;U'>l uj) tlu^ liill fi'om tin
lake, auil at the foot of it was the ref;-ular laudijig for
the ft'iry, as tlieline stoarnor stops at the foot of it now
every suinuior day. Liberty Street lay parallel tr>
Washingt^ni and soutli of it, vnuiiiiiL;- also to the lake.
This street was not actually opened until ISoT, and to
tills day juiis only so far oast as to Main Street. Tlie
third street was "Water Street, rnuniug liortli and south
along the lake shore, and intersectinf; Wasliiugton and
Liberty. The only part of it no\s in use as a street is
the road leading from the wharf to the "old stone n>!ll."
The cluster of old buildings removed when the land
was bought by the AVestport Inn was su[)posed to stand
upon the aneiont Wattr Street.
The description aeeom]iauying the- map speaks of
"Was,liingt(nj street, sevt;nty-tive links wide, and Lib-
«n'ty street, each sixty-tw(j and a half links wide, all
which lots and ^-Irei-ts lie in range with and parallel to
the sides and ends of the dwelling house that is now
building on the Uiirthwest corner of Lot Xo. 1."
This house, the angl.'s of which oriented the streets
of the villagi.', stood ujion the same h>t niuv occupied
by the Westport Inn, close upon the northwest cornei-.
It was built !)}• .John llal>tead and occupied by him
until his d.'ath in lSl-1, and after that by two genera-
tions of his (bscend.mts. It has been described to me
as "a lo^v r..d honsi;,"' uith the front door divided hori-
zontally in the middle, after the old Dutch custom,
f.imiliMr to ,f..!:n U;U'"ad and ids wife in their. rest-
i/iSTf)/:y OF wsirrriHrr jso
ilmc-e iunou-- tlic DtiU-li f-ettlors alo'.i.^ tlu- ITn^lseii.
This liall'-door opi'iird upon .lu "ontiy," uoith of wliii-li
was ii large room usod as a bar-room .••s lonj;- as tin-
house was used as a tavern. This was for some years
the largest room in the village, and v.as tho common
place of public assembly. Tiif itiiitraut |)re;ielurs
who visited the-villa.ge were wont to gather their andi-
encfS in this room, and in the long winter e\enin"s thu
frequeiit and informal meetings of the mens' club (a
term uever yet heaitl in that day) were liehl here.
Ileiiry Holcomb went in and out of tjje honse as al^ov,
and has told me liou- it looked to him, and how a row
of horse sheds st(»od across the road, v/ith a watering
trough for the use of travellers. He has told me, t<Mj.,
how he robbed John Haktead's cherry trees o" nights,
ill the orchard back of the house, and I herebv render
to him full title to all the fruit he took, wishing that all
my aiu-e.^tral cherries could bring me in as rich ivturns
iis tile fan of hearing him tell al.iout it.
This was the first ii-wnt: house in the vi!I;igr, thongh
there were two or three log houses thert- before it. Tlu-
ilesceudants of its builder moved it a little wav to the
.>outh, to the present site of the Westpt)rt Inn, and rt-
inodeled it almost entirely. For several yeai-s a part of
itsori.L;iual walls formed the middle division of tht- Inn,
Init iu ISOS the last one of the solid old tiuilurs Mas
removed, and now -'the old Halstead lunise" is gone
from the face of the earth. Stiangc, strange to handh^
>'hj.s old luaj) and think lu.nv it- frailtv has de«}jed de-
mo iiiSToRV OF WKSTPOirr
structioli so much nioro si'cur.'ly than tho housp, or th*^
hautis that mado it.
• Shortly after the first map of the vilUige was drawn,
ten more lots were added, along the imagiutiry AYater
Street, but seem never to liavo been sold, as all the land
upon the water froiit, with the exception of that close
about the wharf, remained in the family until it was
sold to tlie Lake Champlain Ore tt Iron company in
1808. This property now forms the grounds of the
Westport Inn.
In two ye:irs' time settlement had increased so rap-
idly that another street was necessary, and^Maiu Street
was laid out, and the unndjerof lots raised to sixty-two,
oil July 31, 1802. The part of the village thus mapped
out extended from the north line of the present Libraiy
lawu to a point somewhere near the Arsenal, and west-
ward to tlic short street v;hich connects Washingtoii
and Tiibertv.'-^
♦ rhc (irigLnal (irst map o£ ihe villi^s, drawn by Ananhis Roj;ers, is owned !v/
Miss Alice Lee. It was gjiven her some time a^o by the la.te Anthony J. B. Ross,
an attorney in KsstiV, (;i!ii ss doacendant, by th<j way, of our Eiizabvth GlUilaiid,)
whose father was aciiuaitiied with the HaisieaJs, an,.l probably had tlie map froi;-i
them in the settlement of so:iie dispute over land titles. Acopyof it is still owned
by a gfreat-grand dautrhter of John Halstead, and upon this copy are marked the
prices of the lots. They ranjje from $7.00 to $:;u.co, and the four lots in the ccrntr
v.here John Italstead's hou-;e was built are marked $>50 00. this price no doubt in-
cludinjj the house. A niarfjmal note <ays. "Whole arroum $3,473 00," which fur-
n;:.hrs the ba-is (or an interesting- calculation of tlie rise of real estate since iVo.
There was a copy of the village map drawn on sheepskin, in 1S19, by J. Collins
W'ickcr, whoever that nuiy have been. It was doubtless made by order of the towr-
bo-ird, and beIon;red to the town, to be kept with other archives of this conunon-
wealth, br.t iccanr.rjt have betm very carefully puardid, as itv.as found by a work-
man, in a drawer. 1 think, in the store o'. Mr. Reuben In^alis, after the ttorc wa^-
sold. T!irre is now a blue- print copy of the map, ciade to Miss Lee's order b>{
G.eore'! titcjfory in l"~y«ri.
jiiSTORv OF WFsrroirr j:>i
Since the Hat-bottomed ferry -boat whicli brcuuht tli.-
liousehold goods of Jolin Halstead across tlie lake may
hv called the ]Maytlo\ver of oui' villaj^e historv, an ac-
ooimt of his desccudauts may carry tlie mind alo]i<^f
lines of heredity not without interest to manv of mv
readers-
John Halstead and Phebe his wife had eight eliildren,
as iV)liows :
1. Plcitt Rogers Halstead, born March 20, 1791, died
February 19, 1849, of consumption. He never roarried,
2. John Halstead, died at the age of nineteen of
consumption.
H. Maria Halstead, died at Iweniy-six of consump-
tion.
4. Jacob Halstead, born 'March 5, 1800, drowned
November 23, 1S25, with four others, all on board the
r^chooner Troy, which went down in a gale about mid-
night, ofl' Coil's Bay. These four older children were
born at Ba.sin Harbor, and all the family are buried in
"Westport.
5. Phebe Jane lived to be four years old. She must
have been one of the first children born at Northwest
Bay.
0. The next child,, born l&OG, lived to be six years
old.
7. Caroline Eliza, born August IS, 1809, died in
Bedford, N. Y., March 27, 1870, was the only one of all
^lii.-» family who married.
8, George, born August 21, 1812, was drowned with
ii)>- brother Jacob in the schooner 7Vo//. at the a^'e of
in2 . in STORY OF WKSrroRT
thirteen. The inotlior of this f;imily tlioJ when the
youngest child was four voars old, and John Halstead
married again, a Mrs. Lydia Pardee, who had a family
of children of her own by a former marriage. She had
no Halstead cliildren.
Caroline Eliza Halstead married Miles McFarlaud
Sawyer, January 5, 1832. They had seven children,
all born in "Wcstport :
1. Phebe Maria, 1832-1893. She married John
Xekou Barton and had two children.
Helen married Henry J. Griftin of Yorktown Heights,
"Westchester Co., and has one child, Anna Caroline Griftiii.
born Dec. 6, 1891. Caroline Halstead married Frank Bar-
ton Royce, and is the only descendant of John .Halstead
left in the Champlain valley.
2. Piatt Eogers Halstead Sawyer, 1831-1885. He
was a physician, and surgeon of the 96th N. Y. in the
Civil War. He was twice married, first to Helen Ba-
ker, second to Frances Waters. His children :
Frances Edua. married Hervey Fi. Dorr of Chicago, has
one little girl, Francos.
Lea Halstead Sawyer, Chicago.
3. Jo.soph Willoughby, died at seventeen of con-
sumption.
4. Wa.shington Irviug, 1830-1802. Killed at Gaine.-^
Mills, Va.
5. Conatit, 1S41-1898, married Jeannette Wright in
IvSW, after her death in 1893 married Mrs. Mary E.
Fowler t)f Anbuin. His children now live in Auburiu
He was i\ physician in the State Prison there.
Katberiuf Kl-uI Sau ver.
n I STORY OF WESTPOUT lO.i
Tiiomas Cotiaut Sawyer, married Alice M. Grant, has
three children, Jcanuette, Thomas Conant, Jr., andGraut.
John Halstead Sawyer, a lawyer in Auburn, married
Lulu E. Walker, has oue child, Conant.
G. John Halstead, 18^3-1882. INIarried Emma C.
Knox of Ijedford, N. Y. Died in Doniphan, Kansas,
being Major of the city at the time of his death.
7. Caroline Loraine, 1846-1847.
xVlso in 1800 came Enos Lovcland, probably by way
of the Schroon and the Boquet valleys to the settlement
at Pleasant Valley, and then eastward across the Black
river to tlie highlands of Morgan's Patent. He lived
at the place now called "Hoisiugtou's," on the head-
waters of the floisingtou brook, near the cemetery. It
lies not far outside the northern limit of the Iron Ore
Tract, a lonely place, hemmed in by mountains. The
soil is light, and the elevation between five and six hun-
dred feet. Here lie "sat down," as the phrase went
then, with his family of a wife and live little children.
They afterward had seven more children, making in all
a good old-fashioned family.
Enos Loveland was born in Marlboro, formerly a part
of Glastonbury, Connecticut, March 12, 17()(). Four
generations of Lovelauds, had lived in that town or
near it, there being four Thomas Lovelands in the direct
line of succession. After the Pievolutiou Enos Love-
laud, like so many of the young men of New England,
left his home to try new fortunes farther west. He
was married at Speucertown, N. Y., Jan. 15, 1789, to
An)]a Finney, who was born at Warren, Conn., Jan. 25,
Ji>4
in STORY OF WE ST PORT
1/G9. They lived for a time at SauJ Lake, Eensse-
Lier county, and came to wluit u-as then Elizubothtown
Essex eonnty, in ISOO. Enos Lovelund soon became
prominent m church and state, being a man of ^-ei-Lt
in tlie management of the Baptist church, and was
elpcted Supervisor of the toun for the vears 1809. 1810
and ISU. When Elizabethtoun nvus divided in 'l815
undtlic .eastern part made into a new touu with the
name of Westport, Enos Loveland was the llrst super-
visor, and the town records show that he hekl many
other ofhces. Pie died in 1841, and his wife in 1865 ^^'
In the town records of 1801, in the accounts of the
roads laid out in different parts of the township, there
IS mention of a ^'lake road," which may have run alonr.
the shore fi-ommntli to south, and of another which
•The children of Enos Loveland are as follows • ~'
Sylvia bo--n .,*,. carried for h.r first husband M.rc.s Holsin^^ton and haW
or.c ch.!d. n.n,od Ma^cu.. She after.v.rd became .he second wife of Dr. Diadoru
Hoiconib, an.! had by him four children. . '^''°'^"='
A.a, bom .79,. married Marj^^jrct Frasier. Went west.
JT'7' t™ ""'• """"' ^"^^"^•"-^^- Hewasti.e father of Ralph A
Loveland. who represented the county of Es.ex in the Assembly and in the Stu.
^^::^z::x: '""^"^ """ - "^""^- ^^'— ^ - ^^^-^
Amanda, born irg;. marri.d Warren Harper.
Lucetta born ,70;. .a, one of the early school teachers. She was twi.e
married, first to Leman Bradley, second to Eben F'^erton
Xarciss. born .Soo. after her parents can.e to thi^s to.-n', .,arried Elijah An^ier
Aretas, born .S33, n,arricd Emeline .Manning.
Then came two babie,. one born in .Sos and the other in .ScS. both of who-^
were named Datus. The nrst Datns, who closed h. eyes on this wearv wor .d at
Harr t ' '"^'^ '^^-^^^ '". ^ "^ '"^^^'^'P- T'- -cond Datus died at the a,e of five
Harriet, born ,So>. married James Stringham
' ]I I STOUT OF WKSTPOirr V.h~>
nvn "through Ananias Iiogers' clearing." This was
juobably a road connecting Pleasant Yalloy with North-
west Bay, and it shows us how the settlement at the
bay was commonly sjjokeii of at that time, in popular
disregard of the carefully surveyed streets of the Ana-
nias map.
But nevei'theless, men of energy and foresight saw
possibilities iu the situation of the little clearing.
Early iu 1S02 came a man wlio v\-as destined to do much
in furthering tiie fortunes of the place, bringing in tlie
S[)ii-it of commeice, with its expression in the country
store, and building mills and wharves as time went on.
This man was Charles Hatch. Forty years after his
coming to Westport he wrote, at the request of Dr.
Sewall S. Cutting, then editor of the ^Ve/r Y<>rl- Ht.njrilcr,
a letter descriptive of the place as he first saw it, which
lias fortunately been preserved. lie begins :
"Dear sir : — I now, agreeable to promise, commence a
sketch of the early settlement of this country, but more
particularly of the town of Westport. In the spring of
1790 1 moved to the settlement of Brooktield, whicii
cotnmenced in the spiring of 17S9, which place was then
in the town of Willsborongh, but now iu the town of Es-
sex, At that timeall the country west of me for 100 miles
was an entire wilderness. I renjaiued iu Brookfield
until 1S02. During that time a settlement commenced
in Pleasant Valley, now Elizaljethtuu n, also in the sev-
«.'ral towns of Chestertreld by Isaac Wright, iu Jay by
Nathaniel Malery, in Iveene by Benjamin Payne, ia
Se-hroon by a Judg>' Pond. All conimeuced their im-
inn iiiHTOUY OP WK.sjToirr
provceuts „ud progressed rapidly. Ou,- ro.<ls wcr,
.11 to make anew I helped ,.„k out the first road that
ed fro., Lro.U,eld to (I,e lake, a distance of six .ailes.
I drove the „rst loaded .ago,, f,.om B.-ookfieU to
Pleasa„t A alley, a distance of eight ,nile,
"I. the fall of ISOl 1 c„uel„ded to move to AVestport
..ghtu,,lesfro,nmythe„ residence, vet fhe,.e v.-al „o
■■oad. I the,. ha,„essed „-,y horses io a .ago., „-i.h
tour n,e„ w„h ,ae, ami i„ „v„ Oays' time, wiU, perse-
Uuated tea „„,es west of the City of Vergennes, iu
Vermont, a„d be.ng ou the west side of Lake Ch^m-
plain.
fi ll,b„ toa„yo„e,vhok„owsl,is history it is ph,i„
ha he foresaw „o fut„re for hi.aselt aad bis aptitude
orbns,ness,„aplaee like Brookfield, which has ,.-
"«>- «"lo tlos .lay simply a slretel, of far,ui„g coam
try, withont eve., a post-office of its owu
"Westport . that t„„e was .aostly a dense fo,.est,
th a fe„-soh.a,y settlements, without a road near
.helake.ol..,..,h„adioi,,i.,gtou.n,,orth, a,,d.,one
fo Cow,, 1 o,„t. the then adjoining to,vn sonth. AVe of
eou,vse, had no means of co„„„„„icati„g with clnr
ne,g-l,W,,,g ,o„-ns h„t l,v wa.e,-, and that „„.„„,,,.,.■ .)
™o:c:dtp,■,t■l^.g:r;am,J;l;nHa,s;e;l^;
.n.e t.o and o,,ed,alfn,i,es south, at Barber's roiat;;
He.eK,al, ].,rl„.,., which place bears his ua,ae. .S.iil
""'" "'"^ "'-^ " ^-■■■" "-..pn.ve.uent four n.il.s soa.h
IILSTORY OF WESTJ'O/rr 1U7
of tlif jnesout AVcstport villa^-e, cominenccid by a ruau
1)V the Dame of riaiuiout, wliicli Avas tiio only iitiprove-
hunt coinmenced In -foie the Eevolntion in the present
West port. At the last ineiitiouecl phice Eainieiit erect-
ed a small mill, but it was all tlemolislied when I moved
into this place, except a shattered old house which
was occupied by Jjcujamjn Andrews.
"Tlie village of Westport is situated aljoufc nine miles
north of Crown Point, on a pleasant Bay, and . . .
had . . . tijreo log houses, a saw mill, and a few
scateriug log bouses in the backwoods."
Watson, who probably received his information from
the old Squire himself, says that he found here one
frame house, three log houses, a saw imW and one barn,
The frame house, and probably the barn, were John
Halstead's, and the saw mill was built by Ananias Kog-
ers.
'"The little partial improvementon the village ground
was eovert'd with di'y Hemlock Trees, but the first set-
tlers Vv'as a set of Hardy, Iiidusti-ious men, aiid the
wilderness soon became fruitful fields, and the impi'ove-
meuts have progresst^d gradually. The great Iron Ore
r>ed, formerly called the Crown Point Ore Led, is sit-
imted in the south part of ^Yt■stport, and is one of the
iuost exteusix'e mines of Imn in this Northern Iron re-
gion. It was discovered soon after the Pievolution, and
f<dl into the liauds of Piatt Eogers, who made some im-
l>roverneuts in raising. He emjdoyed a number of
miners. Among the miners was a respectable English-
man b\- the r.au:e of ^^'alcou, and r>ome of his descend-
jr>S in STORY OF Wi: ST FORT
ants still remain in the same neigliborlioorl, and some
oecupyiug the same ground, and enjoy a respectable
place iii sooietj."
He is mistaken in saying that the ore bed ^vas "dis-
covered soon after the Eevolution," as its existence was
'.vell-kn£)wu to Philip Skene, and we have good reason
to believe that this is why ho desired the grant of the
land from the king. It is an interesting fact that the
Vi'alton family of whom Jndgo Hatch speaks still oc-
cupy the same place, on the road between "NVestport
and Port Henry.
"In consequence of the Iron mine above named, and
many others in tlie neigliboring towns, there are many
forges erected in almost every town in the count v, and
many of them bring their Iron into Westport for mark-
et. The early settlers suffered many privations, it be-
ing a time when all kinds of merchandise was very
Dear, and no manufacturing near but what every Fam-
ily did for themselves; no mills near. None knows
tiie privations but those that tryed it, but the scene is
much changed. We now fitjd ourselves situated in a
pleasant Tillage of about one thousand inhabitants,
]:)leutifully supi'lied with the necessaries of life, and
many luxuries, having now a variety of factor\'s. among
others a furnace which makes froni six to nine tons of
Ii-on per day, and anothei- furr.ace at Port Henrv. Of
the several Iron mines in Essex Co. the following is a
part; 1st, in Westport. 2nd, in Moriah. 3rd, in Crown
Point. Itli, in Elizabethtov»n, besides many naoi'e,
id most wilhou.t uuniber."
nJSTOltY OF WE ST r OUT I'ju
The oW Judge always writes the word "irou" willi a
oai)ital, and well he nnglit, for it had a great part in
the building up of his fortunes. In old mortgages of
the time we often find it provided that the interest shall
bo paid "in good, mercliantable, bar iron," to be deliv-
ered at the store of Cliarles Hatch on such a day. Of
course barter was the rule of trade in those days, as
money was far too scarce to supply the demand for a
medium of exchange, and no doubt a store-keeper with
a good eye for the value of different kinds of produce,
and a shrewd knowledge of his market, gathered wealth
all the sooner for tliat.''-
In the same season that the possessions of Charles
Hatch were conveyed with so much labor through the
woods from Brookfield to Northwest ]Jay, another partv
made its way in the 0[iposite direction to the falls on
the Eoqnet. They crossed the lake, landed in the bay,
and cut a road "four miles through the pine woods."
They had come a long journey, from a town in the eas-
tern part of Massachusetts. TJiis was the party of
•Char!c« Hatch was born in 176S in Dutchess county, the son of Timothy Hatch
and Eunice Beard^Iey his wife, who had moved there from ConnecUcut. He came
toBtookfielda young man of twenty-two, with a wife whose maiden name was
Amy Low, and one child, Ehzabeth or Betsey, who afterward married Samuel H.
F.irnswor:h. Soon ;ifter his arrival his son Charles Beardsley Ha'ch was born,
and afterward succeeded to his fathtjr's business in Westport. marryincr Mar-
t,'ar«tta Ann W.nans. daughter of James I. Wirans by his first wifa. 1 he c'hildren
of Charles B. Hatch were Percival, Winans, Mary Elizabeth, who married Amos
Prescott, and Sarah, who married Edwin Prescott. In 1S20 Judge Charles Hatch
married his second wife, LyJia I> Clark, sister of David Clark and half sister of
A.ircn B. .Mack, and h^d twochildren. Eunice, afterward Mrs. Stoutenhurgh. and
EJwin. Late in life Judjre Hatch married a third time, Maria, dausjhler of Jacob
and Sarah Ferris, and she outlued him by twelve ye^rs. The old <quire died in
^''j'^.i'SC^ ei|;hty-ei»;hr.
■200 11 IS TO in' OF wEsri'Oirr
Jesse Bramau. His people were early settlers ia
Xortoi), Mass., arul liaJ cluiip; to tlio soil for four
generations, so that it must have seeaied a
strange and daring thing to cut loose from every tie
and face the long, rough journey into the depths of thc-
wilderness of northera ]Se\v York. Jesse Braman's
wife was Abiatha Felt, and her brother, Aaron Felt,
also came from Temple, N. H., and settled at the falls,
but it is not quite clear whether the two young couples
came together, or whether Aaron Felt came somewhat
later. Let us ho])e that they had the comfort of trav-
eling together, that the discomforts and hardships of
the way might be the sooner forgotten. AVith v.hat
delight they must have stood at last upon the river
bank and looked upon the beautiful foaming fall in the
bend of the river, overarched by the giant trees of the
prin^eval forest, conscious of their own ability to make
use of all tliat beauty and jiower. The river v;as twice
as full as vvx- ever see it now, except in time of flood,
and thoe was no bridge, no mill, no house, not even a
tree cut o!i the bank. ITow much lovelier it must have
been tiion, dashing downward over the rocks that auulc
it musical, through the ancient forest to the lake !
But it i.-, not likely that Braraau and Felt stopped t(»
admire the scenery much until they had raised a roof
over the heads of their famihes. The first house, — a
log cabin, of course,— was built on the bank, southwest
of -the fall. A eh aring was made, and Aaron Felt built
ft grist mill,— how soon I do not know. His wife's
ma.i<h-i: n.Liir.- was Kaehcl Chase, and it is told tl.iat sh.o
iiisroin' OF wKSTi'oirr ■201
could run the luill ;is well as lier liusbautl, niid that
wlien it was neccssavy to oairy tli^ giaiu to the mill,
she sliouklercd the baji; and w alkod across the oue log
that brid<;;ed tl.e space between the river's bank and
t]ic mill, as fearlessly and securely as he. Such wei'e thn
pioneer womei\. and snob they had need to Ite. About
lSlH)the Felts ti'.ovod to Ph.asaiU Valley, but th^ Bra-
mans stayed in the place where they first settled. Jesse
Jb-aman's wife Abiatha had .>i\ children, and then died.
Then lie married JMarcia Kose, and she had seven
chiklren. In those days a family of thirteen children
was considered only a comfortabhj houseful, even
though the houses were so much smaller than they are
now."^-'
Another early settler was Samuel Webster Felt, who
came, like Aaron Felt, from Temple, N. H. He married
Lydia Wheelt-r, in l^Ud, and thry nsade tin; long jour-
ney to the F;ills, but in a few ujonths' time the young
wife died, and hevs is said to have been the tlrst fune-
ral in the townsliip. She was br.ried "near the big
elm," I am told, on the bank of the liver, a little below
the present ceniettn'y. This was the first burying-
Ln-onnd, but all traces of it are now removed.
♦Some of these thirteen children died, some prew up to go west, and six married
a.-'.J settled in this vicinity. Daniel V\'. Braman was one of the principal business
men of Wadhams Mills for many years, and was supervisor for two terras. Horace
was also in business there, and his son Jesse is now a practicing- physician at the
sair.e place. Jason married Laura Hubble and had nine children, Ejjbert, Mary>
Van Xess, George, Esteila, Lucy, Henry, Jaii.es and Lynn. 0£ the daughters,
Asenath married Piatt Sheldon, Martha married Henry Bfownson and Helen mar-
rifd Thom.is Kelt. There are now over twenty descendrmts of the pioneer living
in town, in the families of Henry and James ikaman, Henry SlicUlv>r., .-\l!>crt Car-
penter and Guy Frisbie.
202 HisTOuv nr wKsrroirr
111 1808 or 1810 Jolm AN'hitney came v, ith his fauuly
from Springfield, Yt., and followed tlie uov/ly cut road
through the pine woods from the Bay to the Falls,
choosing his farm rdjont a mile above the falls, on the
east side of tlie river. When he had ju'ospered snfii-
ciently to build himself a new frame house, and the
neighbors were called in to help raise the frame, his
principles forbade his followin;:^ the gejieral custom of
giving the men liquor. Thence it was kijown as the
first house in all this region which was "raised with-
out rum." I'liis house stood until Deceml.)er of 1901,
when it was unfortunately destroyed by fire. Tlie
laud has never been out of the family since it was
first taken up by Jolm "Whitney, who was a de-
scendant of that John Whitney who was born in Eng-
land in 1589 and came to "Watertown, Mass., in
1()35. This English John Whitney was a descend-
ant of Sir Evobert Wiiitney, and through him the family
claim Idnship with English nobility, and even with
royalty. Many of the famih became distinguished in
the nesv world. The father of our pioneer was Eemuel
Wiiitney of Sponeer, ]\Iass., of whom it was said that
he and all his brothers and brothers-in-law were in the
Kevolutmnary army. His wife was Elizabeth Safibrd,
born in Rowley, Mass., daughter of JJauiel Sati'ord, who
fought in tlie Revolution, and afterward became one of
the early settlors of the town of Essex.*
•Johft Whitney's seven children all sctt'pd m lliis new land which he had diosen.
His oldest daufjhter, Abigail, murried OJiver H. B.arrett, and had four sons. JoKn
Whitney Barp.tt died in Chiciso in 1..00. Beniinun Albert Birrelt wis a vol-jn-
leer in the Civil War, .md is now a drug^g'Sl in North Topeka, Kansas, Oliver
HISTORY OF Wi:ST/Oirr -jo::
The Hiircly family also came to the banks of
the lloqnet very early. There were three brothers,
Fr;inois, Joseph auil Beujamiu, who came first and se-
lected the home, then returned and brought tlieir mother
and sister Hannali, all the party travehng on horse
back. This was about 1811. Tliey settled a mile or
so below the Falls, at the most southern bend in the
river, Frances building- on the west sliore and Benjanjin
on the east. This land has never been out of the family
since it was jfirst taken up by the three brothers.
liL-turninjj; to the village at Northwest Bay and re-
tracing a few years in time, we find the village rapidlv
increasing, as well as the outlying population. The
fact that a man lived in the village was no proof tliat he
was not a fanner. On the contrary, every one who
owned anything at all owned land to clear and cultivate,
and as soon as the clearings were made fit for pastur-
age, and the wolves were subdued enough to make it
possible to keep cattle, the village streets were lanes
r):in.i R;»rrLLt, a graduate o£ the University of Vermont, practiced law in Wash-
intjtun, D. C.. from 1S67 until hir. death in ijoi. Henrv S.:fford Barrett ib a farmer
inThomson, Ul.
Lemuel Whitney died in iS;(S, lca\ ir^ no children.
Thankful married Thomas liadley and spent her life near her early home.
Elizabeth married Benjamin S. Fairchild, of Wiilsboro, and died recently, the
last pensioner of the war of i'm2 in thii section.
Caroline married Laertins Tuttle of Essex.
John Rnssell Whitney u iU always be known in the annals of Wadhams as "Dea-
con Whitney, "holding- that office in the Contjregational church from his election in
iS/j^, upon the death of Deacon Sturtevant, to his own death in iSSo. Of his chil-
dren, two daughters married clergymen, one daughter prepared herself for teach-
ing music, two )K>ns have been in business, one was a missionary in Micronesia for
ten years, and a son and a daughter ^tlll reside on the home farm.
Joel French Whitney was a fan-.itr and business niin. One son resides at Wad-
hjinsand two arc 1:1 the wes'.
204 II J STORY OF WESTl'ORT
tlirougb wliicli tlie cows came home at night. There
Imd been a saw mill on the brook as early as the ear-
liest houses, aijcl soon after there was a grist mill.
There is au okl "Agreeuient" between the miller and
the mill owners which has been preserved, and though
the date has been torn off, it seems to have been made
out before 1S07. The agreement is between Ananias
and Piatt Ilogers and Asa Durfee, and it sets forth
that the owners "have let unto him the Grist Mill at
Northwest Bay on Shares, each to have half the toll.
And the Mill and Dam to be kept in repair by the said
Asa, ordinary repairs of less than one dollar, at his
own proper expense; and all extraordinary repairs of
more than one dollar, (not occasioned by improper
negligence of the said Asa,) are to be made by the said
Ananias ami Piatt at their proper charge and expense,
for the Terra of one year next ensuing the date hereof.
On condition that the said Asa shall faithfully keep the
said Mill and Dam in gr>od repair as aforesaid, and well«
and truly perfi^rm all the duties of a skillful, trusty and
obliging Miller." The niiller was to have his house
rent besides his half of the toll, and '"the pasture lot
east of the road leading from the saw mill southward,
the ensuing season, for three dollars and thirty-seven
and H half cents f<>r the season ; and also the new
cleared gvoand on each side of the Mill brook to plant
with Indian cm-n" on shares. "And also, one-half of
the Grass lot wherecni has been wheat the last season,
sotith of the Mill brook," on shares.
Tims we learn that thev called the stream "Mill,
Ill STORY OF WSKTJ'oirr Jdo
Ih-ook," and tljat Asa Durfec was on..' of the first, if uot
the first miller. Au ohi tiMubstone in the cemetery
reads "Eheuezer Durfie, a soldier of the llevolutioti.
Died 1847, aged 86." Perhaps Asa Durfee was his son.
One of the first settlers at Northwest Bay was Ed-
ward Cole, who came from Warren, Rhode Island,
probably crossing the lake at Barber's Foint, and bouj^ht
land upon lot. No. 14 of Skene's Patent, building his
house at the top of the hill in the south ])art of the vil-
lage, on the site so long occupied by ]\lr. Israel Patti-
son. His wife's name was Sarah, and they brought
with them seven children, ail reared in the Baptist
faith, ai'd accustomed tf- consider their home the natu-
ral abiding place of all Baptist preachers who canje
into the neighborhood."" These preachers, as well as
those of other denoruiuatious at times, brought into the
little lake shore .>>ettlemeut an intiuonce distinctly felt,
and one which had much to do iu shajnng the history
of the town.
♦Children of Edward Cole:
I, Samuel married Rebecca Holcomb, daughter of Diadorus, and was the fath-
er of S, Wheaton Cole of Cedar Bapids, Iowa, and of Emeline, who married
Willimn L. Wadhanis^ son of Gijncral Wadhams.
1. Caleb married Eunice Haves, and was the father of Harry, Albert, (marjied
Juha Hickok.) Kobv (married Mr. Douglas), Mary (rearried James A. Allen), and
Roxy (married Diadorus Holcomb, Jr.) To Caleb descended the old place, built
by Edw.'i.rd Cole.
3. Paul died unmarried.
4. Tillinghast married Caty Penny, and all their descendants now living in
Westport are children and grandchildren of tivo daughters. Maria married Hez-*
• kiah Barber, (son of the Hrst settler.) and their son Major still lives on the old
Barber place at the Point. Another daughter of Tillinghast Cole, Pamelia, mar-
ried Xoc! Merrill, and their son Henry, with his family, still live on the place
where Tiilinghast Cole first built his house, on the edge of "the Cedars."
One of Edward Cole's dauehters married Jeduthun B.arnes, and another married
a Culver,
2(f6 HISTORY OF WJ:STFOJ!T
In 1807 the first church was organized, of the Baptist
order, like the tirst chu. ch at Pleasant Valley, organ-
ized ten years before. Many of the early settlers came
I'rom the older colonies with certificates of church raeni-
' bership carefully packed away among their household
treasures — a "church letter," as it is called. One of
the vows taken by a person joining a Baptist church is
the promise that if ho or she shall remove from the
place, this letter shall be presented as soon as possible
to some other church "of the same faith and order."
Not finding such a church already constituted, your
true Baptist sets to work to make one, and such was
the task before a little botly of Baptists who had come
into the town. The civilizing influence of an organiza-
tion pledged to religious observance and good behavior
is especially needed in a new community, and the Con-
gregational form of self-forming and self-ruling churches
peculiarly well adapted to such conditions as are found
on a new frontier. One article of Baptist belief is that
which enjoins the faithful keeping of church records,
and old "church hooks" are invaluable in local history.
The records of this "Northwest Bay Church" as it was
called, were well kept from the very beginning, and are
exceedingly interesting. The first entry is dated March
17, 1807, and begins: "A Meeting a[){)ointed by a nuni-
.ber of Baptist brethren on Morgan's Patent in Eliza-
bethtown." "On Morgan's Patent" is not as definite
as we could, wish, as it only indicates a region which is
bounded, roughly speaking, within the triange formeil
bv the Black river, the J.edge Hill road to MeigsvilU-,
HISTORY OF WKsrrnirr 207
;intl the turnpike. This stretcli of farmiug couutry
wus settled as oarly as auy in the township, and no
iloubt here was the greater weight of Baptist sentiment.
We would like t(j have been told in whose house they
met, but it is no improbable guess that it wjis on the
Hoisinglon place, where three roads couk; together,
near the headwaters of the Hoisiugtou brot)k.
Here the church was foraied with six meml>ers — four
uiL'U and two women. Elisha Collins seems to have
bt-en the leader and the one who kept the record.
There were also llupy, or lUipee Bachellor, William
Denton and James Hoysington. (This name, some-
times written Hysouton, is, ot course, the same that we
now spell Hoisington.) Then there were Sarah Ellis
and Tripiiena Bachellor, the latter probabh' the wife
of Rupee Bachellor. At the next meeting two more
women joined — Anna Loveland, the wife of Enos Love-
land, who joined soon after, and Phebe Fish. At
another meeting Peter X. Fisli, "Sister" Fish and xVvis
Hvsonton jt>ined. In September the name of Joel Fin-
ney is added, and a meeting is appointed at his house
"at Northwest B.i}"." In November was held the
"council of sister churches" which is always necessary
for the recognition of a newly f()rmed Baptist churcli.
The council was formed of delegates from four churches
-dready established, those of Pleasant Valley and Jav
on this side the lake, and of Panton and Bridport in
Vermont. This Council, ])robid.ly the largest public
gathering up"to that time, which had yet been held in
tbe little settlement, "met accoi-ding to ajujointment at
iVAV If/STOin' OF WCSTPORT
the chvelliiJ^ liouse of Mr. Johu Halstead's at N. W.
Bay." The "Mr." proves that John Halstead was not
entitled to the prefix "Brother," ^^'iven to all male
church members, and the reason for the use of his
house is simply that it contaiuod the largest room in
the village — the bar room, in the northwest corner.
Not the slightest incongruity was felt between the place
and the solemn proceedings of the Council, nor was
this a sign of the barbarism of the frontier. At that
day, not one man in a hundred had any conscientious
scruples on the subject of moderate drinking, and it
was more than twenty years after this time that the
first "temperance agitation" was begun. Drinking had j
not yet become a question of conscience. Tlie man
who drank too much was frowned upon by society and
disciplined by the church, but the man who drank only
a little was commended as the community ideal.
This bar r<;om was used occasionally afterward for
other Councils and unusually large gatherings, but the
regular meetings of the church were held at the houses
of' the diiroreiit members. The one most frequently
used in tliis way was Edward Cule. (From this fact
arose tlie impres^^ion among some of the older mem-
bers of the church, with whonj I have talked, that the
church was organized in his house, l>ut the facts con-
tained in the ohl records are exactly as 1 have given
them.)
In five yeaj's' tinie the church had increased to more
than thirty members. There wus no regular pastor.
Occasionally one of the wilderness preachers, like Henjy
iiiSTOJir OF WESTj'onr
•2t)U
rha,nl„n.hua ,n- Solo.non B.owu, who went about from
<-IJUrel, f.> cimrcl, i„ „orthen, Vormout ;uh1 Xew Yoil-
came to pr.ach a ser,„o„, or to observe the orjiuaucel
of communion or of baptism, stajed a few weeks and
"ent on h„ way again. The u.ost of the time the
...eelings were n.ore lil<e the n.odern "prayer meeting "
^v.th an eynal oi,portruuty given each member for e"x-
I'ress.on Tl,is .system brought out the natural leaders
Hu.ongthem, whose gifts of prayer and exhortation
srew wtth the using. Elisha Collins was evidently per-
.mt.ed to "improve the time" with more authority than
™.V o her, until Deacon Abner Holcomb came, wheu
the latter seems to have taken the first place
The clerics of the church were Elisha Collins, and
heu Pe er >. F.sh. Levi Cole, .Joel F,nuey and Tilling.
1 ast Cole. s,>n ol Edward Cole. Those who acted as
deacons were Rupee Dacheller. Uriah Palmer, Horace
Holcon,h and 1, hnghast Cole. Xames of members
addedl,eorel8 2w-ereAshbeI Culver, Squire Ferris
Na haurel Htukly Tunis Van VUet.-Hazelton, Piatt
Halstoad, bamuel Bacheller, Steven Collins, Titus
Co'^ r"\ ^'"\™""'" -"- '^J[i°erva and Loviua
Cohns,heheeea linuey, Sarah and Charlotte Cole,
M«y and Sahy Culver. Diadama Ferris. Electa Van
M.e . lolly HauHuon.l. Huldah Barber, ilindwell Hol-
comb, Elizabeth B.arue.s, Mehital,le Havens
1. the san.e year, on Septeud.er 4, 1S07. a most uota-
We event „, ,h. h.story of civilization occurred upon the
Hudson r.v.r. It was the first entirely successful nav-
igatR.u l,y steam ja.wer ever accom,,lished. The Ch,-
210 HJsroRY OF wKsrronr
ino)tt, built by Ivoboit Fulton, with tlie as;<i.stauce and
eucouragemoiit of Chancellor liivinj^ston ancl of many
of the business men liviuf^ iu towns alonj^ the Hudson,
made the trip from New York to Albany iu thirty-two
hours. Que of the meu ou board the C'lcnnont that
day, and cue who had been interested iii every detail of
the new invention from the first, was John Winans of
Pougldceepsie. He belonged to one of the old, well-to-
do Quaker families of that region, aud his sister, Mrs.
Hannah Southwick, was a well-known Quaker preacher.
Another sister, Polly, was Mrs. Darrell, and another
married a lieyuolds. His brothers were Stephen, who
lived in Poughkeepsie, and James, who married as his
second wife Ida, daughter of Piatt Rogers, and came to
live at Basin Harbor. John Winans, the most famous
of the family, by reason of his connection with the
beginnings of steam navigation, married a Dutch wo-
man, Catriiia Stuart, and seeing great possibilities in
the appHcation of the new pov/er to the means of
transportation between Sew York and Canada, moved
to Lake Champlain. Here he built the second steam-
boat in the world, and called it the Vennoitt. It was
built in Burlington, by John Winans and J. Lough, and
launched at the foot of King street in the spring of 1803.
The Vfnuoiit was larger than the Cltrmonl, being 120
feet long, 20 feet wide, aud S feet deep, witli a speed of
four miles an hour. The captain was John Winans
himself, aud the pilot Hiram Ferris of Panton, — a de-
scendant, l)y the way, of that Ferris who entertained
Benjamin Franklin aud the otlier Ccnnmissiouers oi>
n I STORY OF WESTl'Oirr 211
tlioir way to Canada in the spring of 177(3. The Ver-
t/iniit began luuniug regnhir trips iu ISOU, carrying pas-
sengers and freight between Whiteliall and St. John's.
In tlie war of 1S12 she carried government stores and
soldiers, and once at least was in danger of .capture by
the British. She ran for seven years, being sunk near
I^le Au Noix in October of 1815. The next steamboat
on the hike was the F/io >iir, but at Yergennes for the
Champh.iiu Transportation Company in 1815, and the
third was another boat built by John Winans, tiie
('haiiii>laiii, lauuclied at Yergennes in 181 G. The Chinn-
l>ktin, was smaller and swifter than the l^erntoitf, and
was burned at Whitehall iu 1S17.
John \Yinans lived for some years at Ticonderoga,
but v.dicn he died he was buried at Poughkeepsie. He
had a son, Stuart, and two daughters, Sarah, who mar-
lied a Jjingham, and Joanna Stuart, who married
I'homas, son of Ebenezer Douglass, and spent
her early marrieel life in ^Yestport. Joanna was the
youngest child of John ^Yinaus, and it was his fancy to
take her with him on the first trip of the Veruiont, a
little girl carrying her kitten iu her arms. She made a
most rem antic marriage, at the age of fifteen years and
six mouths, to Thomas Douglass, oidy a few years older
than iierself. It is told that he fell in love with her
when he iirst saw her, a little barefoot girl iu her fath-
er's orchard, when both the Winans and the Douglass
familit^s lived in Ticonderoga. A daughter of Thotuas
Douglass and Joanna Winans, Kate, born in Westport
in 18'2-"), and now ^frs. James A. Al'a'U, has kindly given.
212 jnsTOh'V OF \vi:sTi'nirr
me these detuils. Otber cliiWron of Thomas Douglass
were Elizaljetli, aftei wurcl Mrs. Saxe, ]\[ary, and Gib-
sou, the latter now living in Buffalo.
It was indeed a wonderful day. when the J'enitnuf
steamed for the first time up throufrh the Narrows, past
Iiock Harbor, across the ha}- and on |)ast Barber's
J-*oint, on her way to Whitehall. AVhen the wind was
fair the furry boats out-saik'd her, but well knew all
these New Kngland men, with their natural insight into.
the power of mechanic forces, that the day of the sail-
ing boat was over. There are amusing stories of tht-3
first steamboat on the Mississippi river, and the terri-
fied darkies, who believed it the actual presentment of
the Evil One, fiery-eyed and snorting, walking on the
water, but there was no one on our shores, we may be
sure, whoso imagination was thus excited by the ad-
vent of the puthng and churning little Vennoni.
Bather the keen-eyed Yankees went down to tht-
Point to see her go by, and tried to explain to the
boys who stood with, them how the steam inside the
boat made the paddle-wheels go round. The. early
steam-l>oat!> seldom or never made shore landings, even
after v.harves were built, l>ut stopped outside and sent
oil' a small boat to the shore with passengers or freight.
This must have been duo to timidity oii the part of the
pilot, and })erhaps the timidity was due to the lack of
charts in which complete confidence could bo placed.
In this same eventful year of 1807 the county seat
was changed from Essex to Elizabcthtown, where it
h.as remained ever since. Th.e change from the extreme
HISTORY OF WKsrroirr 2jh
eastern eclj^e of flie couuty to a point nearer the centre
sliows a thickening of the popuhition tiway from the
lake. While this change vastly increased the import-
ance of the settlement at Pleasant Yalle}', it also
brought a double stream of commerce and travel to
Northwest Bay.
In 1808 tlie last patent of ^yestport laud was
granted, — the smaller Jonas Morgan patent, coutain-
ing seven liuudred acres, and lying in tlie northwest
corner of the township. Only about half of the patent
is on our side of the Black river, the other half lying in
Elizabethtown. It lies west of the McCormick patent,
and its southwest corner touches the north line of the
larger Jonas Morgan patent, granted in 1799. Jonas
Morgan had already built a forge on the Black river,
at the pla^e which we now call Meigsville, on the west-
ern shore, which was the first forge on that river.
This he sold to Jacob Southwell.
The Act of the Legislature granting the smaller pat-
ent, April "28, 1808, runs as follows:
"Whereas it hath been represented to the Legislature
by Jonas Morgan and Ebenezer W. Walbridge in their
petition that the^' have it in contemjdatiou to erect
works of diffeieut kinds for the manufacture of iron, in
]:Ldizabetht<jwn in the county of Esses, and on account
of the great eipense and risk attending the erection of
such works they have prayed for legislative aid ;
"And whereas the erection of such works, and espe-
cially of a furna'co for casting of pig-iron, hollow ware
.■Did stoves, in that part of tlu; state, whore irojj ores of
■214 III STOUT OF Wi:STPORT
the best quality and the materials for working the same
are abundant, would bo so beneficial to the state at
large, and j)articalarly to the northern part of it, as
justly to entitle suc-h an undertaking to encouragenient
and aidfroni the Leglislature ;
"And whereas it is also represented, that there is a
tract of vacant land belonging to the people of this
state, lying in the toun of Elizabothlowu aforesaid, on
the north side of a tract of land belonging to the said
Jonas ^Morgan, on which he has already erected a forge,
and adjoining to the same, which will be useful, and in
time perhaps absolutely necessary- for carrying on the
conteni])lated works to advantage, therefore" — the state
not only granted Morgan and Walbridge the land, but
lent them three thousand dollars for the prosecution of
the work, on condition that the furnace be running
v.-ithiu three years, a condition which was probably ful-
filled, since we find mention of "Morgan's New Forge"
in the town records of 1815. ^Yhether he really cast
stoves and hollow ware I do not know, nor whether he
made or lost a fortune on the banks of the Black river.
Before 1S16 he had sold out to Brainard and Mitchell,
who built a grist mill a little further down on the east
side, and since that time the place has always been
known as Braiuard's Forge. Mr. Wallace Pierce, to
whom I am indebted for much information in regard to
the Black river country, had the impression that al-
though the dam went out in the great freshet of 1830,
the forge was not carried away. Mr. Fierce also told
me this storv about Jonas Morgnn. "The south line of
HISTORY OF WKsrroirr 210
\\'\<. .smaller patent auJ the north lino of his larger pat-
ent are about a halt" mile apart. In bnih.liiij^ his dam
at BrainarJ's Forge he flooded this strip of state land,
and at once applied for another grant, asking for a
thousand acre's niore, claiming that he had flooded
tliat nuich stato laud. An engineer was sent from Al-
li;i!jy who scaled Morgan's pond and found only eiglit}'-
four acres of state land covered with water, a ))atent for
which he received in 1810."
It seems to have been in IROS that the tirst Justice
of the Peace was appointed for our side of the river, an
onicial quite necessary for the adjustment of small dis-
jnites and for the transaction of ordinary legal busi-
ness. The appointee was Piatt llogers, Jr., and it may
be assumed that his justice courts were held in the bar-
room of the inn of his brother-in-law, John Halstead.
The tirst book containing the records of the Baptist
cijurch was presented to thai body by Piatt Rogers,
who probabl}- held a strict monopoly of the trade in
blank books at this time.
It was also in ISOS that James W. Coll came from
Ticonderogit and settled at the mouth of the Raymond
brook, building his mills where Raymond had built
liis before hiui. Here a thriving colony soon sprang
up, its population fcu' some years exceeding that of
Northwest Bay, with a saw mill, a grist mill, lime kilns,
a blacksmith shop and a brickyard. Coll built his
liouse a little way north of the mill site, on the corner,
whore it still stands, with its massive squaie timbers,
<nit from the tj-ees of the ftu-ot primeval. It was a I'eJ
'J 10 iiiSTOh'v OF wi:srroi!T
house with long, ylojnnp; roof, with a great ehimiiey aiul
firephices, aud was usoJ, like so man}- of the pioneer
houses, as an iun. The house, with all the lauil of the
neighborhood, now belongs to the Westport Farms.
James W. Coll was born in 1783, came here a young
man twenty-five years old, and lived to the age of nine-
ty. He must have visited these shores some years be-
fore his final settlement, since he was accustomed to
say that he saw Northwest Bay when the only house
there was built of logs and thatched with bark. He
had two brothers, Samuel and Levi, who came and set-
tled near him at Coil's Bay. Notice that the name is
Coll, and not Cole. They were not at all related to the
family of Edward Cole, w ho lived at Northwest Bay.
The disentanglement of these two names in the history
of the town would be to a stranger a hopeless task, as
both Colls and Coles were exceediugh- numerous, and
the jironuuciation exactly the same. It is of the less
importance to-day since there is not a single person in
tow^n now bearing either name since the recent death
of Hinkley Coil, who was the son of Levi Coll. Coil's
Bay is often mis-spelled on the maps as "Cole's," the
distinction being too tine for the average engraver to
apprehend. In the county atlas it is OdcH's Bay, this
name being sometimes heard, from a family who seem
to luive lived at the bay in early times."-'
*Jatues W. Coll had four children. Thomas went west,
and lived iu Clevclaad. Ohio: I'olly niairicd WashiiiLjti»u
Lee, of .Muritih: Eliuor married Israel Puttison. auci Isabe:
married James If. Parnsuorth. All the deseeudauts oi'
James W. Coll now living in WestpoM are childi'eii and
HISrORY OF WKSTl'Oh'T 217
:j-iMiKk'hiIdren of his cliinirhters Elinor and Isabel. The
family uf Hinkley Coll is uow rc-]ireseijtt d by his dauohtcf
Mibiii). who nuirried Adolbort Shi'i'inuii. and his ^--raiid-
dau^djter Bessie Shermau.
About 1810 Joseph Jenks came from Pleasaut A'^alley,
\^l!ere he had se'ttled in 1804, coming tliore from Nine
Tartners, Dutchess county, a phice \vell-kiiowD as a
-trongliold of the Friends, or Quakers. The Jenks
family held this serene and unwarlike faith, and had
ronie to Dutchess county from Rhode Island. Joseph
Jfiiks became a man of consideration in Pleasant Valley,
was a}:ipointed Justice of the Peace and Assistant
•ludiie of the Court of Common Pleas, March 27, 1805,
and advanced to First Judge of tlie Court of CoDHuon
PK-as April 6, 1811. He died at Northwest Pay in 1815,
and was buried in the "south burying ground." His
uift/s name was Habuah. His daughter ]Mary married
Ira Her.dorson, who was born nnar Fort Ann, Washing-
ton county, in 1791, and came to Northwest Bay from
^\'hitehall before 1815. Their chihlren were : George,
who married Clarissa Eichards, and went west l^efore
the war ; Elvira, (Mrs. Andrews); Caroline, (Mrs. P.ig-
alow, of Chicago); and ^lary Ann, wlio married William
Pilchards, sou of "Cyrus Richards, and hfis always lived
in West port.
The children of William and Mary Ann Riehai'ds :
L Henry H. nun'rieJ Clara Eusi^^ai. and had one s(iu.
Freti. Alter the death of his tirst wife he married Hlecta
lioynton. dauLditer ui J. S. lioyuton of Jay.
1. Fred married Alice Sweatt. dau<:hler uf Fi-ankSweatt
of Wad bams. He was accidentally thrown from a bug<j;y,
reeeivinir i;.iaries frcni which he died.
iV.s' nis'ninv or WKsrroirr
;-i. Fi-aiK-<-s iii;iri-i(.".l Mont ford Weed, and Las two eh
drerj. ifan-y and Doliy.
4. Lillian mat-rit'd Alorritr Clark, and Las three dau^'
tt-rs. Jessie, FU»rt'ii(;(\ and CorDelia.
Cyrus l!icliav(la oaine from southern Vermout as -i
youug man, and settled at Barber's Point, afterward
Mjovin^u; t<:» Northwest Bay. He married IsabeHa Mae-
Conley, sister of :\[rs. .James W. CoH. The MacCouleys
were Scotch, and hved at Coil's Bay. One of the
(hinij;ht(>rs married a McKenzie of Port Henry.
The children of Cyrus Richards :
William married .Mary Ann Fleuderson. Samautha mar-
ried .ToLd If. Nichols.. Eiiza married Hezekiah Frisbie. soa
of Levi. Mary married Ephraim Bradh.>y. Cyrus mar-
ried, first. Mary Mclntyre, second. Julia Marsh. _ Cbaries
was drowned in the lake when only a boy. Clarissa mar-
ried Georije Henderson. Harton married Ahnira Xewell.
Id 1810 oeciirred tlie survey <»f the Iron Ore Tract,
called the ''Kellogg survey," rendered so difficult to
the surveyors employed l)eeause of tlie variations in thw
magnetic neeille caused by the attraction of the iron
ore in the rocks and mountains. There is an interest-
ing old map (jf this Tract, then lying in two townships,
Moriah and Elizabethtown. The maj). now hanging in
the village Library, gives us the (dd name of Nichols
Pond', S[»ring Pond, iiulicatiug that the source of its
water is to l)e found in a number of springs in the bot-
tom. Other ])t)nds are shown where the latest survey
sliows. only a marsh. Perhaps another hundred years
of forest cutting will dry the surface of the earth so that
we shall have no ponds left at all. Our Mullein Brook
is called- "Bever Creek," as it is on Sauthier's ma]i of
177'.). Tle-r.' uv 'I'.VV lots in this gront tract, and soni<>
njSTOh'Y OF WJ-JS7T0NT 21U
. f theia are marked with the uames of ouDers, in mauy
r.vsi-s quite illegible. Six lots iu the eastern part are
Marked "Stacy," ten lots "Noble," two "Douglass," one
'■('. Hatch" and three "C. B. Hatch." "Essex Court
House" stands at Pleasant Valley, and the roads all
iLiu very much as they do to-day, with some small dif-
ferences which are interesting as showing the trend of
i :iily settlement. The maj* seems to have been used
by the committee which divided the towns iu 1815, and
it is probable that it once belonged to Squire Hatch.
That there was a school-house at Northwest Bay be-
ii>v*t ISll is proved by a receipt found among the pa-
|H.-rs of Peter Ferris, which runs as follows :
"Pveceived of John Ferris ten dollars in full for two
Itiu'lits iu the school-house at Northwest Bay, which I
authorize said Ferris to occupy or dispose of for his
own proper use, as I myself could do. Witness my
li.uitl, signed at Elizabethtown, this 10th day of Sep-
t.'inber, ISll.
Signed, Levi Cole.
This John Ferris must have been the father of Peter
Ferris, often called "Joliu Ferris, Jr.," to distinguish
liim from his father, John A. Ferris. John Ferris, Jr.
niarried the widou- of Rowland Nichols, whose maiden
n;irue was Patience Cole, and who married Piowlaud
Nichols Oct. 24, 1802, at Pittstown, Rensselaer county,
as her wedding certificate attests. This briugs in a
family of Coles entirely separate from the family of
1^(1 ward Cole, ami whose names recurring in town and
I'liuich rec(>r».ls ;nid to fhe confusion iu leuard to this
■■^'■^o HISTORY OF \vi:srro}rr
surname. 'JMie f.itlier oi Patience Cole seems to Lave
been lieubeu, a sea captain who tvaded from New York
to the West Inrlies, and whose quaint silver watch de-
sceiv.led to Peter Ferris. There was a Calamus Qol-^i
in this family, but in what relationshij. 1 cannot tell. I
am also very much puzzled with the early Ferrises.
There was a "Squire Ferris," and a Diadunia I'erris
among the early members of the Baptist church, but
I have not been able to connect them with any succeed-
ing Ferris. No doubt there is some one in town who
could disentangle all these threads and lay thetn out in
perfect order, but I have not yet had the good fortune
to ajipeal to the rigid one.
One of the earliest settlers was Nathan Hammond,
upon the western border of Skene's Patent, a littl^^
soutliwest of the Bay. The place is now occupied by
Piusii Howard. Whence the Hamtnonds came, and in
what year, 1 cannot tell, but it was certainly bet\n-e 1S09,
and probably several years earlier. Nathan Hammond
had two sons, Calvin and Gideon. Calvin married
Wealthy Holcond), sister of Dr. Diadorus. Gideon
was married three times, his first wife b.^ing Sallv Bar-
ber, daughter of Hezekiah. Her children were Saman-
tha, who married Dan Kent, and Huldah, who niarried
a Oolburn. The name of the second wife I have not
been able to discover, but her children were Cornelia,
Charlotte, Sarah and Ptensselaer. The third wife wa-^
Naney Chandler and her children were Caroline, Mary
Ann antl Jane.
Cude*>n Hammond uas a [jromineut mm in his day
lusroRY OF wsKTPoirr -jji
-upt-rvisor, Member of Asseinbh', and the iiicniiibent
<>' tu;iuy other public oliic'es. He was elected deacon of
the Baptist church iu 1S17, aud filled that otRce until
hi^ death iu IS-AG. He dealt largely iu lumber, sendinjj;
<.iit ^'reat rafts to Canada aud later to New York. He
aUo collected herds of cattle and drove theui to the
Muith, sometimes takin,^ them as far as New York, fol-
lu\vin;j; them on horseback or on foot, a journey of weeks.
Ihese droves of cattle or siieep were a feature of the
life before the raihoad came, every sunimer seeing the
piissage of many of them through our streets. Mrs.
Harriet Sheldon remembers her father, Hezekiah I'ar-
Ix'r, ac-companying Gideon Hammond on one of these
trips, rendered memorable by the red cashmere dress
I rought back to the little girl from the great city. After
tiie Deacon's death, the Hammonds led a large party of
♦ luigrants to Iowa, then considered the far, far west.
Another prominent family was that of the Holcomb.s.
The name of Deacon Abner G. Plolcomb is first fouud
in the church records in 1812. He came from Daii-
hury, Connecticut, with his wife, Mindwell, aud accom-
panied or fcjllowed by four children, Horace, \Yealthy,
•b)nathan and Di;idoriis. Horace went west aud died
in Ohio at the age of eighty-six, ^Yeal}hy married Cal-
vin Hammoiul, and Jonathan, comnundy remembered
as '"Uncle Jock," lived all the latter i)art of his life at
iiasiu Harl)or. Of all the family, that tuie who seems
t" h;ive had the most varied aud interesting career was
I>iad»n-us. He was the fust ]>hysician at Northwest
I5ay, and the (;nl\- one for \n:\\\\ vears. He and Dr.
2-j-j, i!iST(H!y OF WEsrroirr
Aiexaiiiler Morse of Pleasant ^'alloy i-oJe ()ver all th.-
t-ouiitry from the njountains of Keeue to the lake shore,
with their oliicial sarldle- bags, carrying help and lieal-
iug to a people who often sorely needed both. No 0:1^
did better or more unselfish work in the pioneer davs
than these oaily doctors, whose medical education was
usually oljtained by reading in the otlice of some older
pra(;titiouer. Dr. Holeomb was Surgeon's Mate in the
87th regiment in the war of 1S12, and did good service
at the battle of Plattsburgh, being afterward promo-
ted Surgeon of his regiment. He was a Free Mason,
and the mystic symbol of the order is cut upon his
tombstone, whii-li also states that he was born in Con-
necticut, Feb. 2, 1780, aud died in Westport, Sept. 'i-'),
IS.59. He was ap{)ointed Justice (->f the Peace in 1811
and iu 181-1, and in 1815 Assistant Judge of the Court of
(^)mmon Ph^as.
Diiulorus lk)K'omb's lii'st wife was Sybil Spalding', n:'
Piintou. V't. After his niari'iai/e he moved to .Schrooti.
and at the tirst town election there in 1804, was elected
follectur. lie afterward moved to Northwest Bay. where
his wife died, at the age of thirt\'-ODe, leavintj six littl-'
children, Amos. Rebecca, Lueinda, Diadorus, Jr., and two
little ^'irls who were twins, Maria aud Minerva. Tlic
widower, married airain. a youiii,' widow who was the
oldest daughter of Etios Lovelaud. Her name was Sylvia,
and her tirst husband was Marcus floisin^'tou, by whuiii
>ihf luid uue child. .Marcus, By Dr. Holeomb she bad four
children. Wiliiam. Henry Harrisou, Franklin B. and Al-
mira. After the death of hi* second wife Di-. Hi)li.-o!no
married Harriet Sturtevant, grand-daughter of Gen. Dani-d
Wrifjlit Tiie ten children ot Dr. Holcomij mafried as fol-
lows;
1. Amos married thirriet Barber, dau;.'l:ter of Hezekiah.
'i. Iv'i.u'cca inarri.'fl Sarm.:t.'l Cole, son ol E.lward.
JflSTOin' OF WK ST PORT '22:i
8, Lucinda married first a Ferris aad aftt-ru'ard Isaac-
Lyon.
4. Diadurus. ,]i-., married twice, atid each time a Cole.
Tho first wife was Koxy. daughter of Caleb Cole : the
>ee<)ud was ^iaria Samautha, daughter of a Dr. Cole, not
at all related to the Coles previously mentioned.
.'). Maria married Harry J. Persons.
W. ^lijjerva married William J. Cuttiu"-.
7. William married an Everest.
8. Fj-ankliu was in business in Westpurt for some years,
but I cannot tind \vhom he married.
l«. Henry Harrison married Aurilla. daui^hterof Darius
Ferris. He was the last surviviu- of this family, dying iu
VMYl. aged eighty -six.
10. Almira mai-ried Warren Cole.
Thougli Levi Frisbie came ^vitll Life brother-in-law,
liezekiah 15arber, iu 17S5, and helped bim to clea*" tbe
ground and build a shelter for bis family, be returued
to Connecticut at tlie end of the season, and did not
come to make a permanent settlement npim Bes.sboro
until after tbe death of Hezekiah Barber in ISIO. He
\'. as liere before 1812, and lived for a time in the house
with bis sister, the original log cabin having been given
up f.nr a comfortable frame house a Httle farther back
from the lake. This house is completely gone at the
j're.^ent writiny^ but one need not be very old to re-
member it us the c^ue called ."the old Young house."
•Irrusha, oldest daughter of Hezekiah Barber, married
Alexander Young, and to her fell the house ;it Barber's
I'oiut ; hence its name. Levi Frisbie built iiis own
liouse, a log cabin, on the lake road, about half way be-
tween the Point and Northwest Bay. His land lay in
tlie extreme northwest corner of Bessboro, ami the road
b'i>ni the Point ran along below the ledge, passing to
tile east (»f his Iioum-. He had bt-eu a ca[)tain of mili-
l-2i
u I STORY OF ]V[:srroi:T
tia in CoiUK.'ctiriit, ;i)j,l uiieu the war of lSl-2 Ijioko (,ut
I'e u.j^.miz.nl ai.1 (•o.unKii.kHl a- co.npanv ii, this b.un
which di.l goo.l service, eq)ecially at the battle of
riattshui-l,, where the gallant captain lost a l.u \t
the tirst town electiun, in 1815, he was elected i^.,^^^,.
ble and collector, ..tllces to which he was anuuaiiv
elected for thirteen years. lulSin a new school dis-
trict, was formed, and the "stone school house" built
'iot far froui the captain's home. Now the cai,tain was
a man accustomed to command, on the . battle-Mel,] nr
m the neighborhood, and was perhaj^s sr,mewhat arbi-
trary. At aiiy rate, there was a famous "school iK^n.e
war ' over tlie new school house, and the storv will al-
ways bo told of the wrath of Captain Frisbie 'when he
was ont-voted in school meeting. The point of dispute
J never learne.l. Perhaps he objected to ha^in- the
windows put in so hi^h from the ground that no mor-
tal child could ever see <nit of th.m unless he stood ..u
t..p ot a desk. If so, I wish the captain nd^ht have
J'=^^^ Ins way. Uuc he was worsted, and his ven.n>an...
was a complete withdrawal from all school cH.tiict
'natters from that tiui-. henceforth, and to him the stoi^e
school house was as n tiling which had lu; existence, to
the last day of his life. In the same vear, 1810, Cap-
tain Frisbie and his wife were vervacthe in the form'-
tion of the M.-tho.iist church, he being the first cla>s
hader, and a tirm supporter of the c-hurch all' his lif...
lu 1S4() he built him^a new housf, of the stone ..f thr
neighborho.Kl, chousing a spot a little farther we.t th:ui
Ins hrstlocatiMU \\y tiiis time the road l)elow th.
Ill STORY OF WEST PORT 2i>.T
letlj^e was not so uiuch used, and the highway ran as we
now sec it. Eefoio the old captain could move into his
new house he was taken sick and died. The new house
was occupied by the family, and afterward Levi Fris-
bie, third of the name, owned it, until a few years ago
it was sold to Profossoi- Marks of Thiladelphia.
The uame of Captaiu Frisbie's wife was Sally Johnson.
When they came into town they broug-htwith thein a family
of eit^ht children, and three more were born after they
settled here. These are their names:
1. Levi, hnvn IT'.U, died when a youDL,' man.
2. Willard. b. 17V)8, married Aim Kuapp, half sister of
Guy Stevens. Guy Frisbie of this place, is bis son.
i>. Willimn, b. 1801, married Marv Peek; second, Mary
Orr.
4. Sally, b. ISO:!, mai-ried first, l^auiel Clark; second,
Mr. Mtdntyre. Her daughter Harriet Clark married .\aron
Clark, SOD of David.
5. Andrew, b. 1805, married Sally Nichols. Three of
their children with their families, are now liviug in town ;
Henry, married Ruth Greeley; Catberiue. married George
Pattisou; Miua. married Henry Warren.
G. Anna, b. ISOT, married IJi.'hjannu Beers.
7. Jerusha. b. 1809, married Reuben Nichols.
S. Hezekiab, b. ISll, married Kliza Richards.
it. Emeliue. b. 1813, married Dan Piatt Pond, whose
father. Captain Jared Pund, was on the battle-tield of
Plattsburgh with Captaiu Frisbie.
10. Maria. b..l81o, married George C. Whitlock.
11. Levi, b. 1818, married Julia Reed. Their children.
William. Fred and Belle, (Mrs. Chai'Ies Sprague,) lived for
year.s in Wcstj/ort.
One of the earliest settlers was Tiuiotliy Sheldon,
who bought his laud in the south part of Bessboro, and
who now lies buried in the cemetery at Mullein brook.
One of his sous was Otis Sheldon, and another sou was
named after Piatt Rogers, who must have beeu carry-
ing on ojierati^nis at liis ore beil ou tlie shore of the
226 . HISTORY OF WKSTPORT
lake at aliout tho time that Timotliy Shclclon settled
liere. The Willsboro Sheldons came from Dutchess
couuty, and it is probable that Timothy Sheldon also
came from down the Hudson. Piatt Rogers Sheldon
M-as the father of Heury Sheldon.
The Lows lived on the back road, on the farm now
owned by Henry Sheldon. Tlie daughters were Sail}-
and Clarissa, and the sons Wilson, Nelsou and John
Hatch Low. The latter married Eliza, daughter of
Ftoderick Eising.
Joseph Fisher came in early, and built a mill on
Mullein brook. His sou Charles had four daughters.
Lillian, Cynthia (]Mrs. Samuel Root), Jerusha (Mrs.
Mansfield Howard], and Sally (Mrs. Dorr Howard).
Willard Snow was a boatman, and lived at Barber's
Point in a log house on the shore, near the place whert-
the lighthouse now stands. He ran the ferry for "the
widow Barber" after her husband died, and in 1824
moved to Canada.
In the IirvtiJie of Nov. 24, 1S13, appears an advertise-
ment signed Nathaniel Hinkley, in which he solicits
patronage for a uew ferry boat just built, saying that he
has "been to great expense to erect a suitable Whari"'
about one hundred and fifty rods south of the old one
"owned and kept by the Widow Barbe!." The slooj)
"Hunter," N. Hinkley, cleared at the custom house in
181L
A large pr(j])ortiou of our earliest names are found in
the highlands of the Black river CMintry. Jacob South-
well was elected Assessor in 179:5, and lived on the
HISTORY OF WKSTPORT 227
Black river, his name being perpetuated by tlie forge ou
tliat stream v.liieh bo i? said to have bought of Jonas
Morgan.
Sylvanns Lobdell was the first clerk of the new town
of Elizabethtowu, elected 1798, and was probably
father of Bonton and of Captain John Lobdell. Bouton
Lobdell lived for some time at Northwest Bay, and was
tirst clerk of the ucv; town of AVestport, 1815.
At the town meeting of 1798 Norman Newell was
elected Assessor, and E. Newell school commissioner
and one of the overseers of highways. In 1801 Ebe-
nezer Newell was appointed Justice of the Peace. The
Newells seem to have moved from Pleasant Valley to
Northwest Bay, and later Elijah Newell kept ftu inn on
the north side of the brook, on Pleasant street.
The name of Joel Finney is first mentioned in the
Baptist church book in 1807, and soon after the church
was meeting at his house "at Northwest Bay." He
seems afterward to have lived on Morgan's Patent, and
was buried in the Black river cemetery. He was re-
lated to Anna Finney, wife of Euos Loveland.
Joseph Stacy owned large tracts of land along the
upper course of the Stacy or Raymond brook, in the
John Williams" patent and in the Iron Ore Tract, He
had a mill on the brook, and his house stood where
Abram and John Greeley lived for some time, the place
now owned by Mr. Thomas Lee.
The Nichols family went still deeper into the
mountains for their home, settling at the place where
the trail from Spring Pond comes out to the highway,
22S lUSTOliV OF WKSTPOirr
oil the farm recently sola by Ed. McMahou to Tliouia>
Lee. The pond has since been called Nichols pond be-
cause tliey lived near it. In the Hoisiu^'ton cemetery
an ancient stone records the death of Benjamin Nich-
ols, aged 4G, died 1S17, and doubtless he was the pi-
oneer.
The nearest neighbors of the Nichols, a little to tht-
south, \vere the Harpers, and Joseph Storrs, John
Stringham and Abram Slougliter are all named as early
settlers, living on Morgan's Patent. Elizabeth Slough-
ter was buried in the Iloisiugtou cemetery in 1813. X\\
these names are found iu the old book of the Baptist
chureli, and we know that when the Hammonds went
to Iowa, sometime in the fifties, the Sloughttrs and tht-
Nichols and the Stacys went with them, seeking a richer
and a deeper soil than their forefathers had chosi-n
here.
This finishes my attempt at giving a list of the family
names of people who lived iu Westport before the war
of 1812. No one will expect me to perform any such
historical feat as making the list absolutely exhaustive.
These names, with an outline of the principal public
events in tlie town, are enough to form a very inter-
esting and suggestive picture of the begiunings of oar
town life, which, in the mind of any one familiar witii
its later years, will be tilled out with many vivid de-
tails, irresistibly suggested.
Two men who were never residents of our town have
still had so strung an intiuence upon its history and it>
fortunes thiit the sti.irv would m.t be complete witii-
IIISTOllY OF WJJSTPO/rr 22!)
out nientioniiig them. One was ijxe. liev. Cyrus Com- I
stock, the raissioiiarj preacher, aud the other was
William Eay, editor of the first local newspaper which I
.'ver recorded events in the town. Both men left an '
iiiipress upon the place far deeper than that made by I
scores of the more commonplace peoj^le who had act- |
ual residence upon the soil.
It janst have been about tlie year ISll that "Father , ■ j
Comstock" first saw these shores, perhaps coming into
Essex county by way of Nortliwest Bay. He came as
a missionary into a wild and untaught region, almost
destitute of churches or of any form of religions in-
struction, sent out by the Berkshire Missionary
Society of Massachusetts to teach and to preach, and
to establish churches of the form of New England Con- /
gregationalism. In this work he spent the°remainder |
of liis life, coming into the county a man of fortv-sii, !
and living to be eighty-eight. lie was born in theVest-
ern part of Connecticut, a region from which the fami-
lies of Barber, Frislup. Holcoml), Lovelaud and Wad-
hams, the Nobles of Essex and the Lees of Lewis, as
well as AYilliam Bay of Pleasant Valley, all came origi-
nally. He found in the township of Elizabethtown two
feeble little churches of the Baptist order, one at Pleas-
ant Valley and one at Northwest Bav, with no regular
preaching, holding their meetings at the houses of the
few members or in school-houses. It would seem that
the g.wd man rejoiced as much over this seed already
sown as though he had been the gardener, and had
scattered it by means of tho s<)und Congregational ser-
2S0 IflSTORY OF Wt: ST PORT
mons -wliicli he carried in his own saddle-bags, as it is
told that he preached to the Baptist congregations as
often as he came, and was loved and looked up to, and
called "Father Comstock" by them as much as by the
Congregational churches which he founded in other
places. There is a tradition, and we have little doubt
that it is a true one, that he founded a church at the |
Falls in 1813, but as no records are left, it is irapossi- I
ble to know the true history of it. It is certain that he |
often preached there and that the church established \
in 1827 owed its existence to his influence, and to tlie \
teaching which the people had heard for years from \
his lips. He made himself universally respected and !
loved, and had great reward iu that his name is never
mentioned but with pride and afl'ection through all
the region in which he lived and worked. When his
gravestone was blown down iu a great gale, nearly fifty
years after his death, there was at once a mcveaieutlo
raise a subscription for a new one, since he h.ad left no
children nor rehitives to perforin that duty. He it was
who invented the "buckboard," long called the "Corn-
stock wagon," and our older people delight to recall
him as he jogged over the country in this conveyance.
In the fall of 1809 came a remarkable man to settle
in Pleasant Valley, choosing the stir and importance
of the County seat as a place where a man of taleui
might expect to prosper. He had had a most unusual
and exciting career. Born in Sulisbuiy, Conn., his
father had moved into Dutchess county. New York, and
there William Hay began life as a school teacher, but
insTORY OF WEsrroirr 231
soon left tbis occupation to try his Land "in busi-
ness." Failing uttei-ly, and driven Inird by his credi-
tors, he enlisted in the navy as a common seaman on
board the PA;7r/(/e/^)///V(, Captain Bainbridge, then bound
for the Mediterranean. A midshipman ou the same
ship was Thomas Macdonough, then twenty years of
age. He too was destined afterward to see Lake
Ciiamplaii]. . Arrived in the Mediterranean a Moorish
prize was captured, and Midshipman Macdonough was
put in charge of the prize and sent home with it, thus
escaping the fate of those left onboard the Philadelphia,
which ran ag?-ound in the harbor of Tripoli, October
;^1, 1803, and was cajjtured with all on board. William
Hay was thus a captive in Tripoli for nineteen months,
aud upon his release an<i return to the United States
he published a book relating the story of his captivity.
To-day the record of such an experience, told as well
as Wiiliam IJay told it, would sell in repeated editions,
but "The Horrors of Slavery," published in Troy
in ISOS, made Ibiy neither famous or wealthy, and
the nest year we find him making a hazard of
new fortunes in this northern region. He lived at
Pleasant Valley for about three years, how, we.
cannot tell, but evideutly not in prosperous circum-
stances, as appears fr(;m the letters he was contin-
ually writing to the Governor, begging for some ap-
pointment. At that time the County Clerks were not
elected, as they are now, but appointed, and William
Kay urged his claims to thiit office with a persistency,
n. clearne-,s aud vigor of statement, and a variety of ex-
. 232 HIS TOR Y OF WL'STPOA' T
press;iou wliicli ^\•ou1d liavn made liis fortune as a tweu-
tietli century newspaper reporter. He is immensely
like Dickens' Micawber, with bis perennial poverty
and his tremendous gifts for letter writing, but without
Micawber's charming and irresponsilile hopefulness.
"Sir," he writes to Governor Tompkins in 1811, "Every
letter I write to yonr Excellency I make a sacritiee of
my pride to the strong impulse I feel to communicate
my sentiments. I am not unconscious. Sir, that too
much familiarity between characters so widely discriuj-
inated would be incompatible with the dignity of your
superior station — of your exalted merits — I trust there-
fore your Excellency will not attribute my correspond-
ence to vain or ostentatious conceits ; but will indulge
me with the innocent gratification of unburthening a
mind oppressed with the weight of its own comparative
unworthiness." Do otUce-seekers write to the Gover-
nor like th;it nowadays V He makes many allusions to
the men active in Essex county politics at that time,
which makes his letters (discovered in the mass of
Tompkins' Papers |)nrchased by the state in ISSo) verv
interesting reading. He ujeutious Judge Joseph Jenks,
who had not at that time moved to Northwest Bay, as
one of his warmest friends and supporters. In April
of 1812 he made his deepest mark upon our history.
Writing to the Governor lie says : "Sir : I enclose you
the first j)aper ever printed in this Count}". The pro-
prietors have })laced mo at the liead iA its etlitorial ile-
partmeut, associated with Ezra C. Gross, Esquire, a
young genth-man of sound i»riuciples and excellent tal-
IIISTOHY OF WESTl'ORT 233
euts." TLo uvAUQ of the papor was the Iirrri/le, a happy
choice, especially in view of the impending war. Ray
cannot have edited the paper very long, since he re-
ceived an appointment in August as Brigade Quarter
Master of the 3rd Brigade, and went to Plattsburgh,
\\ here he remained six mouths. Then he left the coun-
ty, and is known to have been at a number of different
places in the next few years, being at last completely
lont sight of. He publib*hed a volume of poems at Au-
liurn in 1821.
In 1811 he seems to have had an idea that Governor
Tompkius was likely to visit Elizabethtown, or perhaps
he assumed the fact as a kind of poetic license. He
thus informs "His Excellency:"
You'll cross the lake at Northwest Bay,
Ei^^'ht tniles computed from this villui^e;
The laud uneven, rough the way,
The soil is good, but bad the Ullage.
When the last emioeuce you rise,
From log-built huts, aud shabby people,
The object uext that stfikes your'eyes
Will be, perhajis, the Court House steeple.
From east to west a plaiu extends,
I'roiu north to ^>outh a valley stretches,
And through'the whole a streamlet bends,
To feed with tish s(.'me hungry wretches.
Xo Heliconian streams distil
To give our ])oets inspiration.
But whisky plenty from the still
Seus all their brains in f('rmeutati'.)n.
■j:i4 iiisroh'Y OF \y/:sTr(nrr
No Delpbii,' oivi-lo is hvvt\
CoD^)Uudio^^ ti'iith witli nuuiy ii UbiA.
But a plaira flei'j^ymaii .•siuerre.
Our ouly oracie the IJibU-.
This must liave Wx-'U EKlor Daniel Hascall, a i^iadu-
ate of Middlc^luu-y colli'.i^e, wljo preaclied in the clmrch
at Pleasant Valloy fr.im 1808 to LSio. Ray laughs at
the local dij^uitaiies, "Jud^'es and Generals, all '^I'eat
u]eij>" and adds,
Here's lawyers most confouDdtnl '.vise,
Pbysieiaus also very plfuty,
One scarcely could believe his eyes
To find a ^{ood one out of twenty.
The nnml)er is evidently chosen to savo the rhyme,
as there were in all pi'ohahilitv no more than two doc-
tors in the township at this time, at least as permanent
residents.
One copy of Ray's newspaper is still })rcsorved in
Elizabethtown, showing' it to have been a very credita-
ble pr<-)duction for the place and the time. Surely it
must have received a welcome, at a time when n.ew>
was so eagerly looL'ed for. And still no newspaper a*^
that period ever forestalled the intellij2;ence that came
by moans of piivate letters or by word of mouth. In
those duys if a friend left in one of the ohler state-.-
wrote to any one in the new settlement of Elizabeth-
town, his letter was mainly occupied with pnblic atl'aii-.
elections, the proceedin^j^s of Con;.^ress, news received
from over-seas by sailin;^ vessels, while information in
regard to family matters would be left to be crowded in
at the b-^toui of the last paL.^\ Indeed, these Ictt.'i-
I! J STORY OF WKSTl'Oirr 2.V/)
ofteu foimd tlieiv way into the local newspaper aiul no
one considered details of things ^yhicll happened a
month ago as at all out of place. No telegra^^h, no
railroad, not even the stage-coach had yet penetrated
<.ur woods, and all communication with the outside
world was kept up by the man on horseback. Letter
postage was high, sis cents for every thirty miles atone
time, and ordinary people never expected more than
one or two letters a year, which were as likely to come
by the hand of some travelling friend as by the post-
rider. Letters of the period are commonly endorsed
at the bottom, "By the politeness of Mr. Blank," who
carries the letter, maybe a long distance, as a friendly
ofHce, knowing that he may require the same accom-
modation in his turn.
As a com})eusation for the slowness and dithculty of
communication between distant parts, we must con-
sider that in those days news by word of mouth was
tiiuch more reliable than it is now, and depended upon
much ujore extensively. Then, if a man heard a bit of
news from a stranger whom he met at a ford in the
forest, or at the door of an inn, he listened with the
cl(»sest attention, learned it by heart, and then set otT
as a matter of course to repeat it to his next door
neighbor, who received it and repeated it in his turn.
In this w;iy intelligence of wars and of Indian uprisings
often travelled with incredible swiftness and aecurai-y,
and in this wav, and for this reason, the American
b.ickwoodsman came to be considered the embodiujent
of inquisitiveness. Living a narrow and ujouotouc)US life,
i^.>v; HISTORY OF WKsrroirr
liis natmal ii)tol]i^.Mi',-e heiijij; ileuid] its pi'Djier aii^l
rightful iDaiisijiueiit, ;it the s)<.;ht nf ;i str;U)ii;cr frotn
the ()usi(.le WDi-kl h») U'W upon liiui as one fauiishel for
iiiforrnation. This is one reason why the itiueraut
jH'eacher was always welcouie, aiul why he iiii;j;ht choose
iiis liust out of Jiis cou^reii;atii)ii. The famil\' with
whom the preachnr sojourned were sure to hear uianv 1
iufeiestin.L; things before li»' went awav, atul were en- |
vied accordingly. Tiiis is one reason, too, wh3^so niany |
of the early settlers are nientioneil as having "kept an |
inn." Any <ine with a house lai'ge enough to contain \
a sj)are room, and a barn that would hoM an extra ]
horse, was glad to take a stranger in, not only for the i
meiuev for his lodging, l)ut for the pleasure that thr* i
dullest story-teller could give in relating incidents of j
his journey, with the hints which he had pickeil up of
the doings of the great, far away world.
Thus the UrvrlUc was sure of an ai)pfeciative public,
though perhap.s of u<) great number of wealthy patrons.
Its politics weic strongly Republican, that is, Anti-
Federalist, supportin;^ the administration of ^tladis.^n
and declaring in favor of the war. The tone of th'-
])at»er may be taken as an indication of the prevailing
st-utiment in regard to these thin^^s at the C(juuty seat.
We tind fr<jm tlu^ letters of William Kay to the Gov-
ernor that Joseph Jenks was an earnest Republican,
while Coh.nel Ransom Noble of Essex is re-
ferred to by him as "a bitter ^'uemv of the piest nt
administration." However, after war had been actually
declared, and the militi;' called out f.-r the defenc- '>f
7/ IS TO in' OF WSi:TPi)RT 2:^7
the froutier, there was no diffureuce o])served upon tlte
battle field between Federalist and Eepnblicau, and it
>een)S to be trne that the western shore stood as a unit,
♦ iitirely divided from that New Euf,dand sentimeut
wh.ich led to the proceedings of the Hartford Conven-
tion.
When each number of the Reveille was printed, tlie
copies were distributed to the subscribers by private
carriers. Those for distant patrons, like General
Wright, or Charles Hatch, Esq.,, were packed into sad-
dle-bags and carried on horse-back.
The touuship iu which William Kay published the
Ui-veUle had a population of 1362, of which 741 were
niales. Projioty was assessed at $108,450. There
were four grist anils, seven saw mills, four forges, a
carding machine and a distillery. The distillery was
situated at Pleasant Valley, but a good proportion of
the mills and forges must have stood upon the present
territory of West[)ort, as we know that there were Bra-
uian's Mills at the falls of the Boquet, Coil's Mills on
luiymond brook, one or two on Mill brook, and a num-
ber of mills and forges on our side of the Black river.
The settlement at Northwest Bay when AVilliam Bay
first saw it nuuibered ftb(~)ut twenty l)uildings, houses,
mills and stores, the greater {tart of which lay on the
south side of Mill brook. To this size the place had
<,'rown in ten years' time, and such was its importance
during tlie warof 1ST2. Its real significance isbetterun-
dfiNtood by a kuowledu'e of the coumiercial condition of
the tJieat v.illev in wliieii the little han)let lav. At the
2 IS' lusTouY OF wi:srr()iiT
Custom House, tlu- value of <'xports from the District
of Chau-i])l:iiu for tlie two mmitlis of M;iv ami June.
1811, (as ^'iveu in tiie P/(>ffsh>(r,jh Jltju/hHrrf,, f,,i-
Maroh 31, 1000,) was s20r),914. These exports consist^.]
maiuly of ]>ork, eider, eoi-u, butter, lavd, oandlos,
leather, potasli and soao, all carrioil ou sailing vessels,
bateaux and rafts. There were also quantities of tea,
tobacc(-), and some manufactni-t'd goods whieli were
making tlie long journey from New York or Albany to
Canada, and we must remetnbar that this gives uo ac-
count of smuggled gooils. During these two mouths
forty-three rafts were c-leared, containing over a million
cubic feet of pine timber, principally Norway, besiiles
oak timber, spars, staves, ash o,us and walnut hand-
spikes. One of th<\se I'afts, valued at $2, GOO, was sent
out by Diadorus Hoh-cnnb, and we know at this time
Gen. Daniel Wright sent rafts to Canada every suinmer.
Those were the days \\ lieji notln'ng miu-e wonderful or
adventurous could liai^pcn to any hny thin being al-
lowed to go to ();i. d)ce on one of these rifts, carrying
with him the s!v ins .;f the wild animals which he and
his brothers had trapped and shot the winter before.
And so we can see it all, the township covered with
tlie dark forest, and here and theie all over it, except
upon steep si'les of the mountains, log cabins staml-
ing each .-ne scditarv in its own clearing, and the
clearings comteet^'d bv rough trails. On the lake sliore
two clusters of small low houses in the bays, with the
cluujsy ferrv boat moore.l to its nule wharf at the point.
Everywh.-r.' th.' rin- of ,i\evs and the crash of fallin-
IIISTORV OF W'L'SrrOh'T 239
tirt's, sail boats always coiaJiiL'; and goinp;, the cuh-liuk
with far away \vorkls, and tlieu tlie winter drift wliito
«)Vt'r all, even the frozen lake.
240 iiisTOiiv OF WF.srrujn'
VII.
War pi' 18 IQ.
AiK.l LOW upon this quiet scene falls a slowly cleei'etj-
iug shallow of war. 8io;ns of the second struggle for
inclepenilence were seen as early upon the Champlain
frontier as in any part of the country. First came the
Embargo of 1807, instantly defied by open and delib-
erate smuggling across the Cauaila line, accompanied
by majiy acts of lawlessness and violence. This is the
most romantic period in all our history as a town, the
})eriod in which the most stirring incidents of the latest
novel of adventure might easily have happened. Smug-
glers, pirates, revenue otiicers, .secret hiding places on
lonely shores, costly njerchandise loaded by nigljt t;n
pack horsc^s which were led by dangerous paths over
the mountains into the interior, foreign emissaries close
at hand, tempting loyalty with foreign gold, duelling
still practiced among honorable gentlemen, — this was
the background against which our ancestors moved.
Scott's "Guy Manneriug" was not written then, but ht^'
might have laid the scene of the story on Lake Chauj-
plaiu with no loss of coloring. The buy who gives
himself up to the spell of the Wizard of the North, and
reads, em:hauted, —
"Even at this dead h(nir of night there were lights
moving upon the shore, probably occasioned by the
unloading a smuggling lugger from the Isle of Man,
which was lying in the bay. On the light from the
sashed door of the house being observed, a hollo from
the vessfi of 'Ware hawk 1 Dou.se the glim !' alt^rmed
Jf/STOA'V OF ]V EST PORT 211
those wjio were ou shore, rtiid the h'ghts iustaut!}- dis-
;i})pcared," etc.,— uever thiuks, perhaps, that it all
might have been written about Northwest Bay, ouly
chaugiug the "lugger from the Isle of Mau" into a sloop
from Canada, and translating the warning words into
Cauadiau patois or Yankee dialect. Scott's Dutch
skipper is Dirck Hatteraick, but surely we could match
that name— what do you think of Teuuis Van Yiiet '? —
and his vessel is the Yungframo Harjenslaapen, but that
is not half so shuddery and piratical as the Black S»cd-e,
which was the actual name of a smuggling craft on
Lake Champlain in 1808. True stories are told of plots
to kidnap revenue officers, and of rafts of lumber which
went into Canada carrying armed men, behind bul-
warks of logs, who defied the officers to oppose their
passage across the line. Smuggled liquor and
salt were seen in evtn'v country tavern and store, and
we have no reason to believe that our town was sig-
nalized by any excess of virtue in the matter of cus-
toms duties.
This state of things, together with the fact that in
the event of war the northern frontier was the natural
avenue of invasion for a Britit-li army, made imperative
the action of government in sending Lieut. Melancthon
Taylor Woolsey,* U. S. N., (about 1809, according to
* The author has had to de.il wiih no less than seven Melani.thons — four of them
WooUeys and three of thtriii Sniiihs. There was a Melancthon Taylor Woolsey
who was an officer in the old French war. His son. Gen. Mclanclhon Lloyd
Woolsev, owned one of our original oalents. The son ol the latter, named after
his irra.^dfiihcr, was Lieut. .M. T. Woolsey, U. S. N^., and a fourth of the same
f.iinilv, MtUncthon Brooks Wo^lscy. whs in the na%v during: the Civil War. Then
as for the Smiths, the first w.is Judjjc .Mc!:incthon Smilli of the Revolutionary
j7i> jfisTORY or WESrrORT
Palmer,) to build two gunboats for the defence of the
lake. Lieut. "Woolscy was the son of that Mehinctliou
Llo3d Woolsey who.se narue appears upon our old njap
as owner of one of our original patents, and who was
called Gen. Woolsey from his soi'vice iu this war. The
gunboats were built at Basin Harbor, where was a
well-tatted shii)-jard, perfectly sheltered in, the little
circular "bay, witli its narrow entrance between high
rocks.. We know that part of the niachitiery in this
ship-yard belonged to government from the report of
the Commissary of Military Stores of 180-1, which men-
tions "one pair iron gin blocks, brass sheaves, found at
Basin Harbour iu Vermont in possession of Mr. Rog-
ers." Then the nest year's report mentions "two Ircm
Jack screws iu possession of the assignees v)f Piatt Eog-
ers ou Lake Champlain." The gunboats were large,
lieav\-, open scows, of probal)]y no more than 40 tons,
mounting each one gun. Ijieut. Woolsey's service
throughout the war was ui)0u Lake Ontario, and iu
]Srar<di of 1810 Lieut. Smith was placed in command
of Lake Chami>lain. Lieut. Smith was also the son of
a proprietor of land in Skene's Patent, his father being
Judge Melancton Smith. He was a naval officer of
ex])erience, having been 5th lieutenant on board the
times, one of ihe ablest supfjoiters of Gov. Clinton in his opposition to Hamilton
and the Federil CTonstitution. In "The Conqueror," by Gertrude Atl.erton, he is
presented as the speaker most directly pitted against Hamilton himself at the ratt-
t'caiion convention at Poiighkeepsie; "a clever and eloquen: orator— generous and
manly enoujfh to adiiiil hi:nse!f beaten." One of his sons was Col. ^fela^cthon
Smith of the Zijth ri. ijiincnt, U. S. A., who had a son of the same name who came
to be H Rear AJnurul, (.'. S. .N'. Whe'-her the melancholy soq'.icr.ce could be fol-
lowed farther, I ear'nol tcli.
nisrijiiY OF wKsrroRT
243
unfortunate Chvsaptohe at the time of her suirouder to
the Biitish frinjate Leopanl, and si-ui]ig, with the other
otlicers, fcjie letter which preferred cliarges against Cotn-
moJore Barrou. He also made headquarters at Basiu
Harbor, and there built two sloops, the Gvoichr ,xn(}i the
K<>[lh\ eacli carryin.^ eleven gnn-^, and four more gun-
boats. This squadron when completed held al)S(riute
i-ontrol of the lake.
Now all this building and fittin- out of war vessels
cannot have gone on without appreciable effect upon
the opposite shore. No lad of spirit can have failed to
row across the lake and look upon the work of the ship-
wrights and sailors from the seaboard, while it was a
commercial godsend t<. all the coast. Nothing is more
likely than that tin.bers failed upon our soil went into
the construction of this tl,.et,^^ as well as into Macdon-
ough's, and the naval officers came often to the inn at
Northwest Bay. One man of undoubted military im-
portance in our town at this tinio was Brigadier-Gen-
eral DanielAViight, commander of all the militia forces
^■f the three northeim coumties, receiving his appoint-
*Arnold-s fleet of .775 also carried U.nb.rslurii^oTouT^o^I^Am^idTt^r
imcntalrncmorandam book, written at Ti and Crown Point fro:. May ,0 to June
»4. (printed ,n the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and B.o.raphy. Vol ^Z\
re n,ent.o„s sending boats to Rayn^ond's M:.ls five different tinges, three ■u:;es fo
boards for rep.ur,.^ B.rracUs." ouce f,.r "Ash for Oars and Trough, for
Guns and once he writes. "Sent to R.v.ondS Mills for Timber and provison
for Sk,ne's Negroes '■ One day he writes: -Senta Boat with Skens NeJo Ho
d.;< ore. presumably from Skene's ore bed just below Crown Point where the
negroes were accustomed to d,^ itcut and load .t on boats to be sent lo the fort
t Skenesboro. In one of Arnold's letter, to Congress that summer he s . Z
he can get.ro, from Skenesboro. The writer rcg.ets not having seen th.s reg -
n,emtal memorandum book .n Ume for fuller u.e in this historv
•244
lIltiTOllY OF WKSTVOUT
ment for tri«l .nili,,.,,. o„.olleoco. Ho was three veu-s
It. the Eev„l„tion, fighti„g at Bunker Hill nn,l „t Sara-
toga; and had come into fe.e. county with the rank of
Lieutenant iu a Kew Hampshire regiment.* Soon after
his arrival, he was commissioned 2nd Major of
a regiment "wliereof Joseph Sheldon is Lf Col
Commandant.'- then made 1st Major, then given the
command of the regiment, and Feb. 11, 1811 was made
Brigadier-General of the Militia of Essex. Clinton and
rranklm counties. He was often seen riding down
from Ins mountain farm to Xorthwest liav. a taU erect
gray-haired man of fift.y-six. said to have "made a mosi
.niposing figure on horsel>ack when in his uniform. He
watched the naval preparations of Lieut. Smith with the
deepest interest, and when the two men ean.e together
as they sometimes must, at the inn of John Halstead'
sitting of an evening in the bar-room perhaps, with thJ
^ Uage worthies hstenin;, ,o iheii conversation, the talk
of a man who had served under John Stark, and had
.een the army of li„rgoy„„ advance unopposed the
-tole length of the lake, with that of another who had
.een the height of British aggression in the matter of
impressment of American seamen in his service upon
the 6/„*,/,c„fc and the /(>«/,. may well have been en-
tertaiuiug.
War was declared at Washington June IS, 181'> and
Geu._«j.g|u got tl^ji^ews the -i'lth^eceiving his o'rdeis
from Major Geiieral Mooers t)n tliat day. A fow days
later caiue onleis direct from Gov. Tompkins, which we
tiud iij the-Tompkius Papers, pa^je 3G0, as follows :
Albany, Juuo 27, 1S12.
Sut :— The detach meut (^f militia from your brigade
is hei-eby ordered into service. The detaclimeut from
tlie Essex regiments will rendezvous at such times and
places as you may appoint. Such of them as can con-
veniently jissemble at Elizabethtown, and may not be
armed, will arm and equip themselves from the Arsenal
at that ]>lace. They must supply themselves invaria-
bly with blankets and with kna]isacks if they have them.
Such equipments as they may possess will be taken
with them, and if defective, they will be exchanged at
the public arsenals. The contingent expenses of traus-
jiorting the detachment from Essex to Plattsburgh will
be defrayed by the bearer. Capt. Campbell, with whom
you will please to make the necessary arrangements for
that purpose. Major Noble will take the command of
the detachment, and Dean Edsou, who is assigued as
brigade quarter master, will also accompany the de-
tachment to Plattsburgh. Major Noble will report him-
.self on his arrival to Major General Mooers and receive
his orders, Brigade (Quarter Master Edson will wait at
Plattsburgh tlie arrival of instructions of Brigadier
Gen. Micajah Pettit, of Washington county. The de-
tachment from Clinton will rendezvous at Plattsburgh,
and that from Frankh'n will rendezvous and remain at
Maloue, in said county, until orders shall be received
from Major Cbn. Mowers. The flattering accounts
246 HIsrORY OF WKSTPO]!?
which I have received of vour military talents and of
your active and zealous patriotism makes me rely v.-ith
coufidence upon the earliest possible fulGllment of this
order. I am, Sir, respectfully your ob't servant,
Daniel D. ToMrKiNs.
Brigadier General, Daniel Wright.*
The "arsenal at Elizabethtowu" had been i)uilt vsithiu
the year, at Pleasant Valley, upon the line of the new
state road which there followed the valley of the Bo-
quet. The final rendezvous of the troops was at Wills-
boro, as we learn from brigade orders sent to Major
Ransom Noble July 4.
And so the war began. And as the message flew by a
•Soon afterward the General's quill pen v/rote his first report to the Com.iiander
ia Chief.
EnzABrrKTOwN,July ii, iSi3.
Sir :— I receiyed your Excellency's order of tlie 27th of June on the sth inst.,
directing me to direct the militia detached from the E--sex regiments to march to
Plattsburgh. 1 sut>eied no delay. 1 iniiutdiatcly informed Major Noble that he
WAS to march with thf troops to Plaltsburyh. He cheerfully received the order
and proceeded on his way with his mea on the third day after I received your Ex -
celler.cy's order.
I likewise informed Brigade Quarter Master Edson that he was to repair with
the troops, which order he obeyed. Your Excellency may rest assured that all
and every order within my power will be strictly and punctually attended to.
Suffer me to inform your Excellency that I have been flattering myself that there
would some opportunity piesent to view that I could serve my country in some
post of office that I could be of service to my country and receive some emolu-
ments to myself, as I am not a man of foitune. I was three years in the late
American Revolution, and have held seven diffcrtnt mihtary commissions in tlie
militia and have been doing duty for twenty-eight years past, to the present mo-
ment.
Should your Excellency think proper to rerriember me, I should gratefully ac-
knowledge your Excellency's favor.
I am, sir, with the highest respect, your Ob't Scrv't,
DANIEL WKlGilT, B. G.
To His Excellency, Daniel D. Tompkins.
Vol. VU. page 4oi, Toi:ipkins, MSb., Stite Library.
///sTO/n' OF Mi:sT]'(}irr 247
wifeless tolej^rapliy from door to door throu^diout the
towuslii]), "War is dechired ! the gov(>,rnor lias or-
dered out the iuilitia!" the answering thought in every
hearc was "Indians !" From this terror the frontiers-
man was never freed until aftei- this war, in which the
savages were em})loyed hy the British in many engage-
lueDts. In the ilispatches which Gov. Tompkins sent
out, ordering the militia <_;t' nortlieru New York to the
front, he said, "I trust that wLen you reflect upon the
indispensable nature of the service upon which the de-
tachment is destined, the protection of our frontier
brethren, their wives and children, from massacre bv
savages, you and every other otHcer and good citizen
will join heart and hand in forwarding ihe execution of
this reciui.sition."
Writing to Geu. Dearborn, he says : "The recruits at
Plattsburgh are v.itliin fifty miles of two ti-ibes of Ca-
nadian Indians. In case of an attack upon the fron-
tiers, that portion of the United States Army would be
as inetiicient and as unable to defend the inhabitants or
themselves even as so many wiMiien." ^Villiam liav,
writing one of his innumerable letters to the Governor,
says: "Many people here are much alarmed at the un-
armed situation of our militia on account of the hostility
of the Indians."
The frontier post was not now at Crown Point, as in
the Revolution, but at Plattsburgh, and to that place
cavalry, infantry and artillery were instantly ordered.
(Jannon, ammunition, muskets, tents, pails, camp ket-
tles, knaps.ieks, all the niunitions of war came down the
24S HISTORY OF M'ESTPORr
lake, or along the eastern shore. Later m the war the
maiu thoroughfare was by the state road through
Schroon. June 26 the Governor wrote from Albany to
Maj. John Mills, Washington county : "You will pro-
ceed with the military stores and articles direct to
Whitehall on Lake Champlain, from whence you will
transport them, together with the cannon ball belong-
ing to the State, lying at Whitehall, to Plattsburgh and
Essex arsenals. If an immediate conveyance by water
cannot be obtained, you will proceed b}' laud with the
articles for Plattsburgh through Vermont to Burling-
ton, and from thence send for Gun Boats and other ves-
sels from Plattsburgh, or employ, them at Burlington,
to transport the articles to Plattsburgh, and from the
proper point on Vermont shore send across those for
Elizabethtowu, Essex county." The "proper point on
Vermont shore" must have been Basin Harbor, and
every boat with an oar or sail in Northwest Bay must
have been requisitioned for the transportation of this
warlike freight. It is believed that our first wharf was
built during this Mar, an(l it is probable that its neces-
sity was first felt for unloading supplies for the Ar-
senal at Pleasant Valley. Once on shore, the stores
were put into carts and dragged over the rough mount-
ain road to Pleasant Valley, crossing the Black at Mor-
gan's Forge, now Meigsville, as the present turnpike
route then la}- through undrained swamps.
Gen. Wright's brigade, the -lOth, was then composed
of four regiments, drawn from a large extent of thinly
settled countrv. There was the GGth, Lt.-CoL Alrij
iiiSTOh'Y OF wKsrroin' 249
M.iiiLi, the HGth, Lt.-Col. TIios. Miller, the Otli, Lt.-Col.
l'!ij:iii ]^»;irnes, and the 37th, Rausoni Noble Major
Coiiunandant. In tlie 37tli were most, if not all, of the
nu-n of our town. . . , ,
It is of course understood tliat although every able-
Itodied male citizen between the ages of eighteen and
forty-flve (with certain exceptions, like judges, mail car-
riers, postmasters, etc.,) was at all times subject to mil-
itary duty, still each brigade had its quota, that of the
4()th being 300, and as naturally only the more willing
ones were first enrolled, it was practically a volunteer
ser\ice. There were no more than 150 men on our side
of the Black river subject to militia duty, and of these
not more than fifty, so far as I have been able to learn,
were actually under military orders during the war.
These, with the exception of a few among the older
men who had seen service iti the devolution, were raw
backwoodsmen, totally inexperienced in war, but nev-
ertheless well able to handle the muskets which hung
over every fireplace. The forest was fur from no
mim's door, and wolf or panther might be seen any dav;
therefore a boy could hardly grow up without learning
to shoot, even thougii the New England training days
au 1 musters may have beeu little observed in the settle-
ment of the new town. Our military organization seem?
to fall into two companies couimandeJ by Ca]"»t. Levi
Frisbie and C'a}»t. Jesse Bra man, and a ciivalry
<-(»m])any commaiuhMl by Capt. John Lobdell. There
vere four dillVrent calls to service in the field during
}\ut rwoyf.-ai>, of the wnr (the lir.st for .six months, the
2o0 HIHTORY OF WESTPORT
others for a few days each) to which some of our militia
men respondeil.
Sept. 12, 1812, Lieut. Thomas Macdouough wasgiveii
command of the lake, and shortly afterward arrived at
his post, as he tells in tlieso words : *'Aftor remaining
a few months in Portland J was ordered by Mr. Madi-
son to take eoi^mand of the vessels in Lako Champlaiu.
Proceeded thither across the country tlnough the
Notch of tho White Moi\ntains, partly on horseback,
carrj'ing my bundle with my valise on behind, and a
country lad oul}' in company to return with my horses.
Arrived fatigued at Burlington on the lake, in aljout four
days, and took command of the vessels." Macdouough
was then twenty-nine years old, and had been in the
navy since he was seventeen, leading a life full of ex-
citement jvnd adventure in the West Indies and upon
the Mediterranean. He remained upon the lake until
winter closed in, and then wont to Middletown, Conn.,
where he v,'as married the first of December, and whero
he stayed until the opening of navigation in the spriug.
His task was the same as that of Arnold in 1775,— if he
had a navy he mu.st build it himself. Carefully he had
chosen the place for his navy yard. Op})osite the stt^ep
clitl's (if the S[)lit rook rauge„a little north of the Nar-
rows, Utter Creek tiows into the lake on the eastern
side, a deep, smooth tlowiug stream, passing through
level farm lauds with many a wind and turn. About
four miles froui its mouth, at a place called the "P>ut-.
tonwoods," Macdon(^ugh built his ships. The place
was easilv accessible f(.^r stores brought ti'oni the south
HISTORY OF WESTJ'ORT -J.U
1)V laud or water, and safe from attack to a degree
which no harbor on the lake shore conld afl'ord. The
place was but ten miles from Northwest Bay by water,
somewhat less if one lauded at Basin Harbor and went
the rest of the way overland, and the scene there was
one well worth the journey. Says llobinson, in his
"Vermont," "a throng of ship carpenters were busy on
the narrow flat.br the waterside ; the woods were noisy
with the thud of axes, the crash of falling trees, and the
liawling of teamsters; and the two furnaces were in full
blast casting cannon shot for the fleet." The high
fiaujework of gin and derrick replaced the trunks of
ancient trees, with dangling ropes and blocks for foliage,
and the picturesque unifornjs of the naval officers gave
it all a character unlike anything seen before or since
u{)on our shores. Perhaps William Ray, if he had not
already diifted awny from Pleasant Valley on the cur-
rent of his waiidering life, came out and crossed the.
lake, aud looked upon the busy scenes with keen and
understanding vision. He had hist seen Lieut. Mac-
douough nine years before, as a midshipman on the
deck of the PJiUmJi'lpliia in the Mediterranean sea, and
many things had come to pass in the life of men and
nations since then. A party of young people from the
Bay visited the navy yard under the escort of Lieut.
Piatt Bogers Halstead, who had just received in April
his commissifiu as 3rd Lieutenant in the 29th U. S. In-
fantry. Lieut. Halstead was just nineteen, still con-
scious of the unwonted glory of his new uniforu), and
perhaps also of the fai-t.th;jt he was the only man in
'jr>2 HisroiiY OF WF.srrnirr
lii^s town who had entereil tlio reguliU' stM'vice, and who
cuiisequen.tl}' tlid uot look to the iiiilitia olHcers for or-
ders, but to his C(.'loi)el, Melauchton Smith, brother ot
Lieut. Sidney Smith of the navy. The only names of
others in the party which we kn<j\v are Maria Halstead,
sister of the young lieutenant, and Mary Jenks, a girl
of tifteeu who afterward married Ira Henderson ; it is
tlirough thf hitter's relating the iucident to her daught»-r
that its memory has been preserved.
Such an excursion at tliat time was not witliout its
spice of danger, as there were British gunboats astir
upon the lake as soon as navigation opened. On the third
of June Macdonough sent his two best ships, the <Tr<>>r-
!(-/• and the Ea>jle, under the command of Lieut. Sidney
Smith," to invite an engagement. Tiiey sailed away
out of the mouth of the Creek and away to the north,
but tin-}- never came back again. Oliasing the British
gunbi>iits too eagerly, they wimt in pursuit of them into
the Piicheiieu liver, and were then surrounded, and
both sloops and men captured, after a sharp tight.
The sloops were at once repaired and sent out against
the Americans, under the names of the Flttvli and the
♦President Roosevelt remarks, in "The Naval War of iSia," that this name "i^
a curious commentary on the close inter-rclationship of the two contestintr peo-
ples." Lieut. Smith cannot have been narr.ed after the Kev. Sydney Smith of the
Edinburi;h Review, as the latter was bat a boy of ten, and consequently not ye'.
famous, when the forn\cr was born, and the identity of names seems to have been
a pure coincidence. Prob.ibly the distin;;ui->hed Kngli.shinaa never heard of his
American namesake, but the insolent piUronage with which he speaks of Decatur
(in the famous review in which he asks, "In the four quarters of the globe, wtio
reads an American book ?") su^j^esls that he would have had nothint: but a sneri
lor our brave lieutenarit.ia his rni.^forti'.ne.
HISTORY OF WS Err OUT 25:-i
CI, III,, and all that summer and the- next they were seen
upon tlie lake, flaunting the British flag, while poor
I.icut. Smith cursed the rashness which hud so early
jiiit him outside the fight. The affair was especially
lamentable in view of the comparatively defenceless
conditioirof the lake until the time when 3Iacdonough
should have his squadron in readiness. He was terri-
My hampered by delays iu getting nien and stores from
the seaboard, difliculties more tr^-iug to a commander
than the fiercest engagement, and while he was still
straining ever} nerve in i")reparatic*u the British invaded
tlie state.
It was upon Saturday, July 31, 1813, that meu on
gallu]iing horses went through the town, waruing every
militia man to rendezvous at the Valley the uext after-
unoii, "there to wait further orders, as a party of Brit-
ish troops have invaded the state and are making fur
Plattsburgh." Then from Barbel's Point to the Black
river, from Mullein brook to the Falls of the Boquet,
everywhere the men sprang for their guns and powder
herns, while the women packed cold Johnny-cake* and
salt [)ovk into their knapsacks, and filled their canteens
with rum. If ther*- were no bullets moulded there was
ni) ti(ne to njelt the lead now, and sctmetimes an hour
after the news was received the father of the family had
*"Johnny-cake" was corn bread mixed hastily and baked ou a stnooth board
which was tilted up before a bed of coals in the fire-place. The name is a ocxrup-
tion of "journey-cake," since it was the only kind of bread which could be baked
m camp, while one was on a journey through the woods. Brtud raised with yeast
could not be baked in haste, since it needed a certain time to rise, and it was a
d.ij's work to prepare the brick oven for a baking.
254 HISTORY OF WESTPOllT
kisseil theiii all urouiul ami was off, on foot or bor^ie
back, to the londezvous. Fiolq the niouutaius of Keeue,
from the valleys of Jay, from the hifjfhlantls of Lewis,
from tlie terrified Like towns whose position was that
of most imminent danger in case of a naval attack, the
men and thoir otReers came flocking in, missiuj^ ac-
couterments were supplied from the stores in the arse-
nal, the- ranks or}staliz;ed into order at sharp words of
command, and away they went alon^- the state road to the
north. On Tuesday, k\\^. 3, Gen. Mooers wrote from
Plattsburgh to the governor, "Gen. Wright's brigade
arrived here yesterday with about four hundred troops.'*
If our men left the Valley Sunday afternoon and
reached Plattsburgh, forty miles away, on Monday,
th.ey must have n:iarch6d all night.
Arrived at Plattsburgh, they found the place in the
Jiands of Col. John Murray of the British r(>gulars, who
had landed on Sunday unojjposcd, with a force of 1-iOO
men, and ^as burning and plundering at his own will.
That this should have been so is one of the mystt^ries
and one of the disgraces of the war but it hardh-
belongs to us to discuss it here. When the British set
sail again the Graick-r and Kdi/h-, under thoir new
names, and much ashamed, it would seem, of the new
colors they were forced to lly, went ou up the lake,
threatened Burlington, and sailed away to the north
unmolested.. Meanwhile our men went into camp outsiile
Plattsburgh and ate what their wives and mot tiers had
put into their knapsacks, and at the end of the five days
for which th«'y had bet-n wnrued out most of tlieiu went
HISTORY OF WEST r OKI 2oo
hoijjc agaiu, withaut having fired a shot at the eneni}-.
Tills was iu no \vise the fault of tlie soldiers, nor of
(ien. Wright, who had shown such alacrity in getting
to the front. A company of Essex county mili-
tia remained at "Camp Platte" under the command of
C\q)tain Luman Wadhams of Lewis until Nov. IS, when
tlifv too went home, and nnlitarj' operations were
closed for the winter.
Gen Wright's staff at the beginning of the war cou-
sisttid of Major Joseph Skinner, Brigade Major and In-
s|H'ctor, and Capt. John Warford, Brigade Quarter
Master, both Clinton county men, with Captain John
(iould of Essex as Aid-de-Camp. The 2nd of March,
1S14, the two Clinton county men were replaced by
David B. McNeil of Essex as Brig.ide Major, and Wil-
liam 1). Boss (also of Essex) as Quarter Master, while
Capt. Gould was retained as Aid. At the same time
Capt. Luman Wadhan.is of Lewis was commissioned
*itid Major of the 37tii regiment, and Diadorus Holcomb
Surgeon's Mate, he having been Paymaster of the regi-
ment since Mar. 22, 1809.*
With the opening of spring Macdouough was eagerh'
•Wadhams and McNeil were afterward residents of Westport. David Break-
tnri ftje VIc.Veil had two grandfathers in the Old French War; one was Capt.
A-chibald McNeil of Litchfield, Conn., and the other Lieut. James Breakearidge.
u ho accompanied Major Philip Skene to England upon the diplomatic mission
which riiadi.- the latter Governor of Crown Point and Ticonderoga. John McNeil,
»r)n of Archibald, married .Mary, daujjhter of Lieut. Rreakenridge and was the
father of David. His daughter Anne married Random Noble, Ojinnel of the 37th.
A son of Geo. Wright's aid de-camp. John S. Gould, afterward attended school in
West port, at the old Academy, and his daughter Cornelia married Henry R. Noble
of klizabethtown. and was the mother of Charles H. Noble and of Mrs. Richard
L. H-nJ of the same place, and of Dr. John Guuld -N'oble of New \'ork.
256 HISTORY OF WEST TO RT
at work a;^aiu upon the buildiLii: and fitting of his fleet.
Savs liobiiisou : "The sap had scarcely be^uu to
swell the forest buds wlieu Yer<jeuues, eight miles up
stream, where the tirst fall bars Davigation, was astir
with the building of other cr-rft for the Champlaiii
navy. l''o)'ty days after the great oak which formed
the keel oi the Saratoga had faileo from its stump, the
vessel was afloat and ready for its guns."^ Several gun-
boats were also built thoru, and early in May, their
sappy timbers yet reeking with woodsy odors, the new
craft dropped down the river to join the Heet at the
Buttonwoods. The right bank of Otter Creek at its
mouth is a rock-ribbed promontory, connected with the
mainland except at high water by a narrow neck of
low, alluvial soil. On the lake side of the point earth-
works were thrcjiwn up, and moanted with several ])ieces
of artillery for the defense of the entrance against au
expected attempt of the enemy to'iestroy the American
lleet."
The attempt was made. May 14, lSl-1, and early on a
Saturday morning. U'e will bt; precise about the da}-
and the houi', since this was the one time in all this,
war when actual fighting reached our waters. In the
afternoon of the day before, (the 13thl there appeareil
•Macdonotigh's Heet at the battle of Plattsbwr^h consisted of his Sag-ship, the
Sarato^'a, 36 Gruns; the brijf £a^'U, Capt, Henlv, i] g-ans; the schooner T iconJe~
TOfrr, 17 guns, Lieut. Budd. The Ticondercga s-xi originally a small steamer, bu*
her uwchinery was continually j^etting- out of crisr, and so she was schooner -
ri^g-ed. Then there were six ^alic>s, the j4/;^», Zitrrrr'j, Borer, Nftlle, Vif^r
and Centifiini*, each with two gruns, and four ^allevi, the Ludlo:-;, Wilmer, Alryn
and ^a/Zart/, with one gun each. Some of the vt<seL- wer-; built at Ilssex, and
taken into ll\e Creek to be fitted with their ii=.i:':c3'-5.
HISTORY OF WE ST PORT 257
otT the village of Essc-x, as Cten. Wright says in his offi-
cial roport, a "British Flotilla cousistiug of Oue Brig
i)f twenty guns, sii: Sloops and Schooners and ton Kow-
gallics." The brig was the Ijinuet, Capt. Daniel Priag.
Soniewhe'-e along the Willsboro shore a small boat had
been seen — perhaps some peaceful fisherman who had
not been warned that a British fleet was corning, per-
impis some foolhardy boy with a youthful desire to see
liow war-ships looh near by—and one of the row-gal-
leys was sent in pursuit of it. The small boat very
jn-udently made all speed into the mouth of the Boquet,
and succeeded in escaping up the river. The soldiers
landed at a farm house on the north side of the river,
;iear the mouth, and plundered it, then rowed away to
join the fleet, which, moving slowh" against a southerly
wind, came to anchor for the night, about sunset, oiY
Split Rock.
Meanwhile we may imagine the excit^iment in Essex,
where resided, as it happened, all the members of Gen.
Wright's stati', as well as the Colonel of the 37th, the mi-
litia regiment of the viciuity. Gen. Wright was G or 7
miles away, putting in his crops, I suppose, upon the
hillside farm, but his officers acted at once. "I resid-
ing some distance from this village," he writes, "and
not beiug promptly informed of the appearance of the
enemy, Lt.-Cul. Nobles anticipated my wishes by or-
dering out the Militia from a number of adjaceut
towns." So once more the alarm went through AYills-
boro, Lewis anil Elizabethtown, an«l once more the men
rt'.-,p(>ndod to the call, Auotiier invasion, anrl this time.
2r>s HISTORY OF WKSTPOUT
Hut forty miles twvay, but at their very doors. All
th;it uiglit the militia came streaming in to Esses, Geu.
Wrii^'lit f^alloping dowu the rocky road ou one of the
farm hoises, }K'rhaps, with some of the men from the
Bay clattering at his heels. All the Yermout shore
was nj> in arms as well as ours by this time, ami
liobiusoD tells how the militia oflicer came to-
gether this same night, when the British fleet
lay otf Split Bock, and were busy running bullets at
Yergennes.^ At Essex groups of anxious men stood
upon the shore and looked oil to the soutli where the
lights of the hostile ships twinkled in the darkness.
No lighthouse then stood above "the Split," but if the
night was clear some shadowy outline of the ships was
visible. As day began to dawn there was a stir of
awakening upon the water, capstans creaked in re-
sponse to words of command, the anchors of the fleet
were raised, and it moved away to the south, confirm-
ing what had long since been conjectured, that the ob-
ject of the invasion was an attempt upon Macdonough's
fleet then fittinj^ in Otter Creek.
*The present Mrs. James A. Alien has told me o£ an incident often related by
her grandfather, Captain John Winans of the steamer Vermont, which occurred
some time during; this war. Fearful of an attack, he determined that his vessel
should never fail into the hands of the British, and so laid a train to powder casks
in the hold, and pave directions tliat at the word of command the train should be
hred, and the Vermont, crew, British and all, if such should be the condition of
affairs, blown out of the water together. One nig^ht a boat was suen approaching
in the darkness, and the word went round for all handi to be ready, but just in the
Dick of tune the newcomers were discovered to be of their own partv, and the pow-
der was not fired. So desperate a resource was not likely to be thought of except
in a time of imminent danger, like this night when the British fleet lay off Split
Rock, and all the coast was awake ani alive with terror and resolution.
HISTORY OF WKSTl'ORT 259
Tho works at fhe mouth of the Ottev were defended
by Capt. Thornton of the artillery ftiid Lieut. Cassiii of
the navy. The British sailed tt> within two miles of
the works, and then eight of the row-galleys "and a
boDil) ket<;h" moved up and made an attack with can^
non, bomb and musketry, which was repelled with much
spirit, the Americans having one gun dishionnted and
tw(. men slightly v;ounded, whik: the galleys suffered
considerable damage, and soon drew off. All this was
in full sight of Northv,est Bay, and only six miles away
across the water, so that if any one there had slept that
night, they were awakened by the roar of cannon ech'
oed back from the steep niountain cliff opposite the
little fort, (which we now call Fort Cassiu,) while all
the rocky sides of the Split Bock range roared in an-
swer. I suppose the people at the Bay listened and
looked, and ran about hiding their treasures, and tried
to plan what they would do if the Britisii came into the
l)Hy and firexl upon tlie village. There is a tradition
about the family silver at Basin Harbor being buried
under a rosebush in the garden— with the ro.-:ebush, or
its lineal desjcendant, shown in confirmation,— which
1 have always heard referred to the time of the battle
of l^luttsburgh, but it is really much more likely to have
happened at this time, when the noise of battle was
only four miles away instead of forty.
The British turned again to the north, and the watch-
ers ui)on every i^eadland of the lake sent the swift news
inland that there would be no great battle between the
jh-'-'t>. that d.iy. At uoou the king's ships came to off
200 iiisTony OF wKSTPoirr
llie vilhige of Ess(^x, ami "the Comiuodure," says Geii.
"Wright, "dispatched an otticer with a flag dcmamliug
the sim-ender of a small sloop belougiiig to Mr. Win.
D. Ross Avhicli had been launched two days previous,
but which had foi'tniiately been conveyed to the south-
ward of the Fort at Otter Creek."' ^Ve wonder how
Capt. Pring can have kuowu anything about this «loop,
but it seems that the mast and spars had been left ly-
ing upon the beach, and naturally suggested a hull to
which they might belong." The sloop must have been
hiddeii in Karn liock bay, Rock Harbor or Partridge
lliirbor, the latter being by far the best hiding-place.
The owner of the sloop, by the way, was the sou of
our Eli'/abeth, after whom Bessboro was named.
Meanwhile the militia were drawn up about a mile
back fr(Mn the village in a }iositif:)ii to command every
niovement of the enemy. "About three o'clock" says
Gen. Wright's report, "three of the Enemy's lvi>w gal-
lies passsed U[) the river Roqnett and landed at the
falls, where after demanding the public prc^perty (whicii
had been timely convoyed to a distance) and learning
that the Militia were in force a few miles distant ami
•Here is doubtless the germ of the legend still told in our town of ships hidden
en North Shore, soiiieliraes referred to the time of Arn< Id's batile with Carle-
tond, and sometimes to this war. The writer has been in the habit of telling
ti-.e story with no less than two frijjates, fall rigged, always hidden away in Par-
tridge Harbor, the tall niasta being made invisible by green branches lashed upon
then. After I one day observed a "laker" lymg inside the h.irbur, with her in ists
rot reachinif the tops of the trees on the promontory wiiich hides the ha bor from
the lake, I omitted the branches as unnecessary, addin>r a carronade to the tpir
deck of one of the frigates and an interesting middy to the crew of the other to
makeup for the loss. And now { am S ecome a drudging historian, imcklvac-
tt-pting this one sinali sloop, with no mists at all, since she was just launched, in
place of all th.it brave fiction I
HISTORY OF WUSTFOh'T 201
■wore ou the iiuiich to iuterce})t their retreat, they pre-
<'i[>itatelj embarktd in their boats and ruade for the
Lake. Ou ascertaiuiug that the euemy were shaping
tl)(.'ir course towards the mouth of the river Lt.-Col.
Nobles directed his march towards that poiut, and I
approving of his plan of operation, I directed him to
cross tlie wood and post his men ou the bank of the
riivor, \\ Inch was dune with the greatest promptness,
iu time to arrest the progress of the enemy's gallies, the
crew of which were so disabled as to oblige them to
hoist a flag of distress, when a sloop came to their as-
sistance and towed her oil'." The Americans had two
men slightly wounded. Their position during the fight
was extremely favorable, liriug upon the boats from the
toj) of the river bank, which is high an steep near the
month of the Boquet. The guns in the galley could
not be pointed high enough to reach tl)em, most of the
catjuon balls striking the bank. The report concludes:
**I hope and expect that Commodore Macdouough will
in the course of a few day?j be able to assume the com-
mand of the Lake, which will relieve the anxiety of the
inhabitants residing on its borders."^
The next day Macdonough's squadron sailed out from
•It was not until this report was found among the papers of Governor Tomp-
kins and published by the Essex County Republican in iSgfi, this and other docu-
ments bein^ furnished by Hciav Harmon Xoble, thcit the details of this enga^e-
nunt were known to the present generation. The account given in Watson's
History of Kssex County, published iN'tj, shows the absence of such definite in-
formation as we nov.- por.sess. He refers the incident to the year 1813, greatly un-
derestimates the force of the British, and adds that they "retired after a slight
bkirinish with a body of Militia under General Wadhajns." Mr. Watson was
wrifine souie fifty yc;trs after th« eveol, and did not stop to refiect— possibly did
/lol know — that Ur'adia inis w:is not a CJcner.il durjuc the war of iSii, nor for a
2t:-J HISTORY OF WESTPOUT
the tranquil (Jtter into the Narrows atid aM'.iy to the
north, the fioek of white sails watched breathlessly from
Nortliwest Bay aud Barber's Point and from many a
highland farm that commanded a view of the lake. At
Basin Harbor, where officers and men had become fa-
miliar visitants, with some fricndsliips formed which
were never broken, the event was of stirrin;^ moment.
AH that summer Macdonough cruised upon the lake,
drilling his men, stieugthening his crews by the ad-
dition of salt water sailors of experience, and showing
no fondness for the boatmen of the lake, as military
material. I never heard of one of our boatmen as
lighting on Macdouougli's fleet, which seems a little
curious at first. And all the summer our people saw-
soldiers and supplies passing down the lake toward
the frontier, until in September the decisive battle was
fought.
It must Imve been the last day of August that Gen.
Izard with an army of four thousand troops came
marching along the new state road southward through
Pleasant Valley, ordered from Plattsburgh to the Niagara
fr(.ntier. Scarcely had the tramp and the niusic of the
ranks died away in the distance when niouuted officers
came riding in hot haste by the same road, aud by
every by-way of the whole town, with orders warning
number of years afterward, but 2nd Major in the 37th regiment of which Ransom
Noblr was atthe time nieut.-Col. Conimandaot, he, with every other man in the
field that day, bein^ under the direct command of Briijadier-General Daniel
Wright. The General says in his report, *'Jt would be invidious to distinguish
particular orticers and soldiers who acted in this encounter. With pleasure I can
ussure you that every m.in enjjaged co.^ducted himself with the cool deliberatior.
o£ a veteran."
IIJSTOHr OF WE ST POUT 263
out the militia to repel a British invasion from the north.
Gen. Wri^'htj at home ou his farm on the rugged slope
of the Split Rock mountains, received his division or-
ders by the hand of a horseman, one of his own statl',
from Essex, to whom thev had been brought by horse
or boat from Plattsburgh, We can imagine the old
general standing iu the road and listening to the sound
of horse's hoofs coming nearer and nearer over the
rough and uneven road, until the horse burst out of the
forest into the clearing, and the headlong rider drops a
paper into the general's hand. It was endorsed on the
outside "Express, Will Major McNeil or John Gould,
Aide, at Essex, see that this order is delivered immedi-
ately," Opening it, he read ;
"Division Okdeks, Plattsburgh, August 31, 1S14.
Brig. Gen. Daniel Wright will assemble immediately
the whole of the Militia under his command in t!ie
I'ouuty of Essex and march directly to Plattsburgh to
repel an invasion of the State of New York.
Com})anies as fast as they assemble will march to
this place or to some place of rendezvous iu the vicin-
ity thereof, without v.aiting for others, those near the
arsenal will supply themselves vvith arms from thence
which the commisary is hereby directed to issue.
Others wjll be furnished when they arrive here.
Py order of Major Gen,
Benjamin Mooers.
R H, Walworth, Aid-de-Camp."
And so it had come. The fourteen thousand British
tioop.>, many of them veterans of European wars, gatli-
264 mSTORY OF WIlSTroRr
ered upon the Cunacli;ui fiuiitier, had adually iuvadeil
the State, while tlie main bod}' of our own army was
tliat moment marcliinj::; away to tlie sontii under Iz;ird.
Gen. Wright's mind mnst have o;onc back thirty-five
years to tlie time M'heu he, a yonno; fellow of twenty-
one in a New. Hampshire regiment, sav/ Burgoyne's
splendid coiniucriug army come sailing up the lake to
Ticouderogci, with its banners and music and parks of
artillery, the emblem of pride and confidence, driving
St. Clair from his entrenchments by the sheer power
of what it was able to do. He had gone with the
American army in its humiliating retreat, and such
things are not forgotten. l>at he had seen, too, the sur-
render at Saratoga, and neither was that forgotten. So he
turned and went into the house and told the family that
he had got his orders, and his wife Patience and his
daughter Jerusha cried a little as they helped him into
his uniform and buckled on his sword and bruslied his
cocked hat and filled the llask which is still cherished
by a great-grand-daughter. Then he mounted his sad-
dle-horse, which a little grandson had been sent to catch
up out of the pasture, and rode away out of tlieir sight.
It is to be hoped that his son-in-law, Elias Sturtevant,
felt it his duty to stay for the protection of the women
and chiKlren on that lonely farm, and let his musket
and powder horn hang peacefully over the fi'eplace,
except when wolf or bear slioweil itsi^lf too near the
door.
Geu. Wright's brigade, the 4th, in Maj. Gen. ]Mooers'
division, consisted at this time of three- regiments, tht?
HISTORY OF WESTPOirr 203
'.)tli, Lt.-Col. Maitiu Joiner, the STtli, Lt.-Col. liaiisom
Xoble, and ^lajor Pieuben Sanford'f; independent oi' un-
re^^iwented battalion wliicb bad been set off from the 9th.
In the o7th, as we have seen, were most of our militia
men, in the companies of Oa])t. Levi Frisbie and Capt.
Jesse Braman, with some in the cavalry company of
Cnpt Jolm Lobdell. It is told that when Capt. Bra-
man's company gathered at the Falls, early one moru-
in^7, ready to start for Plattsburgh, he gave tliem all
breakfast at liis own expense. Maj. Wadhams was also
in the 37th.
On Friday, Sept. 2nd, the first detachment marched
away, for many of the men the third time they had march-
ed to Plattsburgh. The next Tuesday came the first act-
ual fighting, early iu tlie morning of the Gth. Mooers
had taken them across the river to meet a column of
l^ritish troops which Avas moving upon Plattsburgh, not
with the intention of giving battle, but, as ho says, "to
check and thwart his movements," and also, (which he
does not say) glad to try the mettle of his green troops,
the men who had left farms, mill and forges a few days
before, carrying flint- lock muskets which had never been
leveled at anything but the wild beasts that threatened
the farmer's sheep. There was some sharp fighting as
the militia retired to the river, and ^Mooers says, "Some
part of the ujilitia behaved on this occasion, as well as
since, with the greatest gallantry, and were not sur-
passed in courage and usefulness by the regulars on
that day." And he was also obliged to remark, "There
was a ['ortiou of the militia that could not be rallied,
2(;n lUSTdRY OF WF-STroliT
fijiil s(>uio of tilt-so retii-LH,] iinmodiHtoly to their li(»!ii«r«:>/'
— thut is, rail at the first luo, ami never stu|>peJ rnii-
Jiiug until the}' rHjiohed a phice wliich they oousiileretl
safe.
The ilivy of the Battle of riattsbiu;i^li fell upoD Sun-
da}', Sei)t. i}, 1814. The day before, as it liappened,
was the one appointed for the regular "church aud cov-
luiut uieetiug" (which all Baptists are accustomed to
hold upon Saturdays, iu prejuiration f(»r the commun-
ion service the uext day) at ^Northwest Bay, and you
nuiy read to-day upon the worn and yelloweil pages of
the old church hook,—
"Sept. 10. Usual time for holding Church meeting,
but on the acct'unt of an Alaram it was omitted." The
"Alaram" was the news that the British tieet had ap-
peared below Plattsburgh, and that a battle was immi-
nent. The euitry mast have been made later, as the
clerk of tlie church, Tillinghast Cole, is believed to
have marched with his comijany to tight tlie'iiext day.
Deacon A.bner Holcouib, t'5>, wh(i was wont to lead
the meetings, was in th^ service nujre or less
throughfiut the' war, althongh he must have been an
exempt by reascui of his age." And so at North we.->t
♦On the Thursday before this the members of a Congregational church at Fair-
field had a similar meeting-. Their minister, the Rev. Benjamin Woosttr,
had been a soldier in the Revolution, and a warlike spirit being discovered
among his church members, u company was formed then and there, with the Rev.
Benjamin as Captain. They crossed the lake, and on Sunday aided the niiii'.ii
under Gen. Stron.^ in the final repulse of the Hntish across the ford. Gov. Temp-
kins afterward presented the valiant volunteer captain with a b.rge faraily Bible
in recosnitioa of his peculiar services. On the morning of the battle, the Friends
(or (Jiiakers) of <>,-inJ 1-le attempted to Jiold their rei;uLir Kirst Day meeting:, but
were obliijcd to [;ive il up, as the proper st.ite of mind couUl nut be raaintaiced
IlISTOhT OF WKSTJ'ORT 2G7
Bay there was no quiet Sunday cratliering iu the little
-^I'liool house, but terror and suspense iu every home as
tiie souud of furious caunonadiuj^-, ten times as heav}-
;is auythiuf^ heard in the week prertediu^, was borue
distinctly up the lake, beginning between eight and
nine o'clock in the morning and continuing two hours
uud a half. Then it all stopped, and not for days was
r-Ttiiitj news ]'eceived of the issue of the fight. Hauuali
Hardy at the Falls used to tell her grandchildren how
tlie women listening at home fancied sometimes that the
boom of cannon was coming nearer, as though tlie
]:'»ritis!i were approaching up the lake.
Meanwhile the men were taking part in one of the
buttles of history, so far as the naval battle is cou-
cei ued, althougli the engagement upon the land scarcely
rises above the importance of a skirmish. The hostile
fleets met in Plattsburgh bay on a beautiful, placid
September morning, with the blue lake only rippled by
a gt^ntle breeze from the south, and a few wiiite clouds
rioutiu'T in a bh^?, sunshin\' skv. Commodore Dowuie
had his flagship, the Cuiijiance, 30 guns, the Limnf, 16
guns, the CJixhh, 11 guns, and the Finch, 11 guns, with
twilve gunboats managed b}- sweeps. Commodore
Macdouough had his liag-ship the Scratoya, 20 guns,
whi.c Ihc cannon fire bclwcen' the licet- w;is going on outbidc helow ilmr very
wmJows. 'I he next year John Conuy, a Friend preacher, rame all the way from
k'ennsylvania to visit the Friends in this reg'ion, and wrote one day in his diary,
'1 r.aJ a meeting at Friends' nicetintf house on the west side of the Island, and
nearly opposite where a bloody battle was fouijht on the lake, about a year ago,
during meetini; time. It must have b^cu an awtul shocking scene I" He also
wiote, "In passintr throuji^h Plattsburgh, the ravages ot the battle on the lake were
p..i:r,:y visible "
'JGs rnsTom' of \vi:sri'()RT
the Knijh:^ 20 j^'iujs, the T'i('(,iiili!r<>(j(i, 17 ^uus, :ui(l tho
Frt-hlf, 7 i^mi.s, with ten guuhouts. Thoy t'oai:;;ht for
over two hours, and when the British had lost one-tit'tli
of their lueii, Coiiimodore Dowuie ami a number of liis
orticers bi>iiig among the first slain, with scarcely a
mast left on any vessel sound enough to raise a sail
upon, the Britisli colors struck to the stars and stripes,
and a great shout of victory went up from the Amer-
ican sailors."^
- As Downie's tieet opened the u[)on Mac(h)nougirs,
the ]>ritish land forces under Sir George Prevost ad-
vanced to the attack of the American position. Gen.
^Macomb w ith his 1500 regulars occupied strtmg f'ntiti-
c;atiotis on the south bank of the Saranac, between the
river and the lake. In the Central and most imp jrtant
redoubt. Fort Moreau, was the 20th regiment, Col.
Melancthon Smith, in which Piatt Pi. Halstead was ^ud
Lieuttaiant. The troo}>s lined llio para]»et in double
ranks awaitiug the attack of t!je enemy, but as the
]jritisL\^ever crossed the river, the fighting was all
donf» at long range with the artillery.
The enemy attempted tlie passage of the Saranac by
♦Palmer quotes tlic remark of a British marint to the effect that the battle oi
Trafalgar was "but a ttea bite" to the battle of Plattsburgh. When one consiilers
that at Trafalgar forty f.tjhting ships on one side an! thirty on the other, some of
them carrying more jjiins than did Maccionoiii^h's whole tleet, fought two bv two.
with guns almost month to mouth, the Victory, which earned a hundred guns,
completely crippling the gigantic Bueentaur with one broadside in two minutes,
the compariion is seen to be quite absurd. It can only be explained on the theory
that the British s.iiior was, for some reason, not so much in the thick of the fight
af Trafalgai as he v/as at Plaltsburgh. since it is v/ell known that one cannon ball
coining directly your way is a mare interesting object than a thous:ind which seem
more likely to bt- inj-t by some other fellow.
in ST our OF wsKTj'o/rr 209
tv,o bridges in the-village' and by a foid three miles up
the river. The ruilitia under Gen. Mooers, i\bout 700
in number, were entrusted with the defense of this ford,
and here was Gen. Wright with his brigade. Gen.
^looers, says in his report to the Commander in Cliief,.
"On the morning of the 11th the action began with tlie
tl^'et, the enemy at the same time opening all his batter-
ies upon our forts. About an hour afterwards the enemy
presented themselves in considerable force to effect a
])assage of the Saranac at a fordable place, one of my
cantonment, where the Essex militia and some few de-
tached volunteers were posted. In disputing the pas-
sage of the river a sharp contest ensued. The militia
under the command of Majors Sanford and Wadharas,
two excellent otHcers, stood their ground during a num-
V>er of well-directed fires, and until the enemy had
eftncted the passage of the river and ascended the bank,
when a retreat was ordered and effected in good order
before a force evidently far superior, carefully improv-
ing every gol-^position to continue our tire upon them."
They fell back to a small battery about two miles from
the ford, a?id there matle a stand, and with the help of
tliH guns stop]"»ed the enemy's advance. At this point
a man on horseback was seen galloping up, waving his
hat. It was Major Walworth, one of Gen. Mooers'
staff, who had been sent to the shore of the lake to
watch the naval battle and report its ju'ogress. The
waving hat meant "Victory !" and so the quick-witted
Yankee men understood it. They ]M'essetl upon the
ejifiuy with exuhaiit .cheer.-s, anil a large bod\- of Ver-
1^ TO IIIH TOR Y OF ]VF:S Tl'OR T
moiit vohiutticvs nniler Gen.' Stri>ng havinf^' eoine a[.
tlioy (.1 rove the British back across the river witli con-
siderable loss. Tliat night, under cover of darkness
and storm, tlie British retreated — "decamped very sud-
.den and unexpected," says Mooers,— Icaviijg their
wounded and their stores biliind them.*
In Gen. Mooers* report wo find "Majors Eeuben San-
fttrd and LunianWadhams mentioned above are enti-
tled to notice for their gallantry and good conduct, as
also Brigade Major David B. McNeil and Brigade
Quarter Master Wm. D. Boss for their activity and at-
tention in the line of their duties." Major Reaben
Sauford lived in Wilmington and conducted a hirge
business there. His grand-son, Henry Chiy Avery, was
for many years a merchant at Wadhams ]\rills, and his
great-grandson, Harry Avery, is now a young lawyer
in New York. Majors Wadhams and McNeil afterward
became residents of ^''estport, the former becoming
prominent in the town life, and rising to the rank of
General. William Daniel Ross dealt in lumber, iron
and ship-buiKling in Essex ; his wife was a sister of
Oa-^.t. John Gould, Aid on Gen. Wright's stafi; and his
l)rother, Henry H. Boss, (afterward Gen. Ross,) was
adjutant of the 87tli at the battle of Plattsbnrgh. The
militia were disbanded immediately after the battle,
•Readers of Mrs. Catherwood's charming romance of "Lazarre" will be pleased
to recall that tlie real Eleazar Vt'illiams, whether or no he was the rightful King
of France, was certainly present at the battle of Plattiburgh and was wounded in
his riffht side. Perhaps our Dr. Diadorus may have helped to bind up the wound.
To be sure, he wis more likely to be occupied with wounded militia men, but it is
a pixjr im.ijfination .'vii-.ch could not contrive scir.c succession of events which
would brinj; thrin together.
HISTORY OF WESrrOin 271
shu'c tlie citizen soldiers wpi'e uever kept from their
lioines longer than was positively necessary, but uiany
of them yielded to the temptation of staying a little
Imi^'er to celebrate. Their families were no longer in
danger, and the women of 1814 weie quite equal to
milking the cow and splitting the kindling wood, while
the scene of the recent camp of the British was a
fascinating spot. Ti-nts, camp equipage, ammunition,
clothing, private papers, even money had been left be-
hind by Prerost, and s\)o\\ from this camp, rather than
from the battle fiehl, was scattered through two coun-
ties, with )nany a boat-load taken to Vermont. For
years the militia trainings were gay with uiiiforms and
swords from the camp of Prevost.
We can imagine the home-coming of the men, all con-
qiicritjg heroes in the admiring eyes of their wometjfolk.
All the stori(^^^ I have over heard th.e old people tell
dr-L-lare that no\iews of the battle was received until
after several days, which would seem to argue that no
ilfserters came houie early with tales of disaster. IVr-
haps there were no deserters among our men, and if there
\vere, perhaps they had the discretion to kee[) out of the
way of the wouien until the other men cauie home.
Some cam^ back wounded, like Capt. Frisbie, who lost
a h-g. When the iie\\s of the victory and of his wound
<ame to the Point, the families there had had their
Jiousehold goods loaded into wagcjus since the cannon-
ading first l)egun, feeling themsidves to be in a place
]>eeuliarly exjxised in <;ase of a descent of the Pritish
>i'lditM'\-. 'It was rj.'fes^arv that sixut,^ one should gi> to
272 niSTOKY OF M'ESTrnRT
riattsl)arf4li to take care of the \vouncleil captain huO
briuj< him home, aud as his wife was uot able to gi~) at
the time, his sister, "the widow Barber," went and
brought liitn home in a sailing boat.
There has lieeu preserved a letter written upon tlie
day of the battle by Mary, wife of Capt. Jared Pond and
daughter of Piatt Kogers. Tiie Ponds were then liv-
ing at .Basin Harbor, Mrs. Pond being mistress of the
house. A woman who could sit calmly down and write
a letter in the midst of such confusion as she describes,
in a house full of women and children, with the doors
bolted aud barred, must have had something of forti-
tude in her nature. She writes on Sunda}' afternoon.
Bason Hakbor, Sept. 11, ISU.
Dear Husband, I sit down to address a ff>w lines to
you, (if it please Grod that you are still in the land of
the livincr,) tr> inform vou of our situation at present."
She is'soon interrupted, but resumes lier pen again in
the evening. "Snntlay evening. I was called away by
company coming in. There is some alarm here among
women and children about an Indian that was seen
yesterday in the woods near Panton. To-day at Mich-
ael Gage's hf got some bread and butter and came on
this way. Tiie m^ighbors have bet.m out to look for
him, but have discoveretl nothing more of him yet. A
person just knoekeil at the d<Jor ; I inquired who was
there; was answered "Friend !" I uufasteiiod the door
and let in a yonng man whom I found to ha Lyman
Chamberlajn. He tells me he saw you yesterday, and
that vou infi>rmed him v.^u should not return till \"oa
JUS TONY or WESTPORT 27.V
saw which way it turued." It is plain that she would
like very much to have him at homo again, which is
not to be wondered at, and she alludes to "all our
uei.ii^iiboring men, generally speaking, going to the army,
leaves us in rather n tried situation. However I wish
not to complain, and shall endeavor to bear my part
with becoming patience and fortitude, with the assist-
ance ofj Divine Grace. There have been a number of
cannon heard to-day. We are anxious for the safety
of husbands, friends and fellow countrymen. I hope
the prayers of God's people are continually oft'ered up
to Him who is able to protect our army and give suc-
cess to our arms in driving back our enemies to their
own borders. ^lay our Almighty Father protect and
defend you, and return you in safety to be a blessing
to your family. M. P. (Mary Pond.) Perhaps I shall
write more before this ^oei>.
Davbrsi^ Tuesdav uiorning. Since writing the above
1 have experienced a multiplicity of scenes. Our house
;ind barn have been filled since Monday night with
st)ldiers from the South. I yesterday experienced an
excess of joy for a few moments on account of the vic-
tory, but was soon damped by the news of Mr. Barron's
death, which also gave new cause of anxiety for your
fatf^. Before night we receiveil news of your being
among tlie slain, by wa}- of Yergennes. But the Lr»rd
is still good and gracious. I was enabled to stand the
shock with a degree of fortitude, and declared in tlie
midst of my trouble in this manner: "I do not
believe it."' I liatl so ft-rvently commended you into
'274 IIJSTORV OF WEST POUT
the hands of our RotLveuly I'.itlier tliat 1 felt as though
it could not be. It woukl be diftleult to describe tlie
auguisli of our ])oor cliildreu on hearing the news.
I>ut in an hoar ^ve heard that after the action you-vvere
seen and spoken with, were well and in good spirits.
Tliis almost overpowered my poor feeble fi-ame — -so
sudden a reverse ! Blessed and praised forevermore be
our Eternal Father, for such I feel Him to be. Do re-
turn as soon as possible. I can't express my joy
and satisfaction on reflection that you have been pre-
served, and so far have done a duty that every true
friend to their country ought to do. Our poor friend
Ida Barron is with us. O how heartrendiug are such
scenes. May the Lord support her and sanctify it to
her soul. Once more I beseech the Almighty to return
you in safety, but am still anxious. AVe heard cannon-
ading last night, which appeared to be nearer than
Plattsburgh. God only knows what will be the next
news. Farewell."
"Oury'ioor friend Ida Barron" means, I tliink, the wife
of Joseph Barrou, the pilot of Macdonough's flagship,
who was killed just at the close of the action, after the
enemy's flag had been struck, by a stray shot from one
of the craft. He was just returning his watch to his
pocket, having taken it out to determine the duration
of the battle. He must have been an inmate of the
liouse, more or less, for several years, as there are old
deeds of various dates, made out there, which I have
seen, sigued by "Barron, Jr.," as a witness. Lt. Hal-
stead mourneu him as one of his tlearesl friends.'-
■ HISTORY OF WE ST PORT '275
Tlie regulars remaiuecl at Plattsbur;^li until v.intor,
large bodies of X'uited States troops being ordered
there imuiediately after the battle, to prevent the possi-
bility of another laud invasion. No invasion by water
could be thought of since Macdouough's sweeping vic-
t«)ry, and the commodore requested service on the sea-
board under Decatur. His ships, and those be had
captured, were not withdrawn to Otte;r Creek, but to
Fiddler's Elbow, near Whitehall, where they lay for
years, "never again," as Eobinsou says, "to be called
forth to battle. There, where tlie unheeding keels of
commerce pass to and fro above them, the once hostile
liulks of ship and brig, schooner and galley, lie beneath
the pulse of waves in an unbroken quietude of peace."
Although the war was really over, except for the De-
cember battle far, far away at New Orleans, the lake
dwellers, thrown out of all their old habits of quiet in-
dustry by the alarms and excitement of the past two
years, sujffered needless terrors that winter from rumors
rea^ invasion from Canada, v;hich should ravage
and burn Macdouough's ships as they lay
frozen in the ice. Details were supplied of hoises
!ind sleighs, artillery mounted on runners, fur-clad
troops with snow-shoes, and many a frightened womaij
sat knitting socks or mittens as fast as her lingers could
tly, listening to the men as they talked of all this, and
determined that if the soldiers of her household went
of a great in
the shor^. a
•One of my idle q;ie?>t.s has been an aUempt to discover a relationship between
Joseph Barron, pilot of Macdonoiigh's tlag-ship, and Commodore Barron of the
Chf^apeiiit-, the one who killed Decatur in a duel, six years after this.
276* HISTORY OF WESTPOliT
forth to meet such an army, tliey shonhl be chid as
warmly against the bitter cold as her strength and skill
could compass. But when the news came in February
that the treaty of peace was signed, all alarms were
over. From that time onward life preseided the old
problen)S with Avhich men liad wrestled before they
were called from the daily struggle with wild na-
ture, the forest and the soil, tt) fighting their fellow men.
Material progress had almost entirely stopped during
the war, not because the men had been employed upon
military service the greater ]xirt of the time, which it
would not be correct to say, but because the times had
been so unsettled that men's nnnds had not dwelt upon
their own affairs as they had been wont to do in times
of peace. It is a common remark among historians of
this war that the northern settlements were nearly ru-
ined at its close. Nevertheless, the evils of neglect are
soon repaired, and soon the oW ever}' day work was
taken up with redoubled vigor. The tide of immigra-
tion from older settlements set in once njore to these
short^! and the population rapidly increased.
One lasting monument to this war is found in the
names bestowed upon some of the boys who were born
soon after. Dr. Diadorus Holcomb named a son Henry
Harrison, and Tillinghast Cole named one Perry.
Other instances are A. Macdonough Finney and Bain-
bridge Bishop in Elizabethtown, and Montgomery Pike
Whallon and Stejihen Decatur Derby in Essex — the
latter addressed as "Commodore" all his life in allusion
tf^ this name.
HISTORY OF WKSrroRT '211
But iu no particular did the war leave its mark upon
the daily life of the people so mnch as iu the new sougs
Avhieh came to be sung. The only musical insti^iments
likely to he in town at that time were violins, mOre or
less rude, and played with toil-worn fingers. Uncle
Jed Barnes, the fiddler, then lived on the corner, on the
jirescnt site of the club house, and the children iu
the school house a little way farther to the south
used to go.iu after school hours and beg him to sing
the "Massacre of the River Raisin." It is a curious
fact that the name of Jeduthun Barnes was prophetic
of that gift by which he is remembered in our local
history, since we read iu 1 Chron., 16:4:2; "And with
them Hemau and Jeduthun with trumpets and cym-
bals for those that should make a sound, and with
niusical instruments of God." He was the uncle of the
Jim Barnes of our day, and any one who now remem-
bers hearing the latter sing "Marching through Georgia"
can imagine the tuneful zeal with vvhich "Uncle Jed''
delivered tiiese lines :
A
"In Mr-liij^an forest the night whids were high;
Fast drifted tlu' snow through the bleak winter sky.
The trees, cliris and niountains u-ere hoary and cold,
And the waves of theiliiisincongealedas they rolled."
Then there was the Star Spangled Banner, with the
lines going a trifle luMivily, but with plenty of breath
very effective. But neither of these delighted our an-
cestors like the songs written about our own great bat-
tle. There was the story about the game-cock on
l)oard >[acd<>nough's tlag-ship. One of the first shots
ixy)\n the enemy shattered the cooj) and set him free,
27S
insTonr of wijsitort
when be flew up ia the rigo-i„o. aud crowed with all his
"'i.c^ht. Ihe sailors were so delighted with the omen
that they cheered him, and always believed that the in-
cident was significant of victory. There were some
liBes to the tune of ''John Anderson, mv Jo John"
which allude to this :
"O Jobnny liull, mv Jo John,
BelK.Id on Lake Champlain.
VV.ith more Ihau equal foix-e. John
. lou tried your tist again.
But the cock- sa.v how 'twas going. John,
Ana cried cock-a-doodie-doo,
Aud MacdODough was vietoriou.s, John
U Johnny Bull, my J(je." '
Then there was ^'The Siege of Plattsburgh - to ih^
tune of "Boyne Water,) first sung in a variet'v theatre
^n Albany, poor stufi' enough, but no sociafocca-sion
was complete without it for many years.
-Backside Alb^tny stan' Lake Champlain.
Litlie pond half full o' water-
i^iatt^burgh dar loo. clo.se 'pon cle main.
On r J'fr? ' ^""--T"' ^''^-'''' ^^'^' hereafter.
fa^*; Clnimplain Uncle Sam set he boat
An 3Jas.sa Macdonough be sail enj
^^'d de'lnV'^"?™' ''''''' Platt-buruh hel^l.e.
>Vid de army whose courage neber fail -em '•
Another is still fondly remembered amon<^ the older
people, who recall it with an enthusiasm quite out of
in-oportion to its poetic finish. The national hisforv is
reviewed in twenty or more stanzas, two of which nin
like this :
•'When Provo.st saw he'd lost his fleet
tie gave out special or(h"rs
i-or his whole annv to retreat
HISTORY OF WEST PORT 27!^
Aod leave tbe Yankee borders.
Thro" dreary wilds aud boss's and feus
Tlie luckless general blundered,
Ho tied with tiftecn thousand men
From ^Jaeomb's (iftecn hundred."'
No instructions -u-ill bo needed as to the ervpeeted
j)ronunciatiou of the last word.
But the favorite of all others was a home production,
•.•ailed ''The Noble L;ids of Canada/' sung to a rollick-
ing tune of its own. The story goes that it was Avritten
by one Minor Lewis, living in Mooers, a town next the
Canada line. His imagination' dwelt upon the recent
exciting events until one day, as ho was chopping alone
in the woods, the words of the song began to take shape
in his mind. He found a bit of charcoal and a large
tdiip with a smooth surface— some sa}- the smooth top
of a stump— and there wrote the words before they
could escape him. I prefer the chip story to the stump
st(jry myself, because ho could carry the chip home and
store it away as the ancients stored away the leaves of
papyrus after they were written upon. But genius like
that makes no allecu^tlijn of forgetting its own produc-
tion, even if it has been left upon a stump in the depths
of the woods, and the song was soon published bv the
power of many a lusty thn^at. It afterward found its
way into print, and the sarcastic impersonation of the
British which was necessary for the singer gave it just
the dramatic touch which insured its success. The
words suffered many variations, s(jmetin)es beginning
"Con:e all ve Noble Englishmen," and sometimes with
2S0 lirSTORY OF WEST PORT
liues inserted cc^utaiiung local hits, accordiug to the
place and the occasiou.
Come all ye British heroes, I pray you lend your ears.
Draw up your British forces, and tlieu your voluutoers.
We"re ^^oing to fight the Yankee boys by water and by
laud,
And we never will return till we eouquer, sword iu
hand,
We're the noble lads of Canada, come to arms,
boys, come.
Oh,, now the time has come, my boys, to cross the Yan-
kee's line.
We remember they were rebels once and conquered John
Burgoyne,
We'll subdue those mighty rebels and pull their dt^el-
liogs down.
And we'll have the States inhabited with subjects of the
crown.
We're the noble lads of Canada, etc.
Now, we've reached the Plattsburgh banks, my boys,
and here we make a stand.
Until we take the Yankee fleet. MacDouough doth com-
mand;
We've the Growler and the Eagle, that from Suiith we
took away,
And we'll hav'^^heir noble fleet that lies anchored in the
bay, '
We're the noble lads of Canada, etc.
The last verses portray the growior; dismay of the
British, and the chorus changes to a dismal refrain,
We've got too far from Canada, run for life, boys, run !"
— sure to delight tiio audience who had been looking
forward to this climax from the fust.
Considerable interest attaches to the question, What
did the soldiers of the warof 1812 wear? Theoretically,
tlie militia were supposed to wear the uniform prescribed
HISTORY OF WESTl'OKT 2S1
for regular troops. As a matter of fact, the militia
wore evorj'thiug, from their own homesjum to uniforms
of British soldiers which had been picked up
u}H)n battle fields. There was a regulation that ever}-
companj should have at least a certain number, (thirty,)
1 believe,) of uniformed soldiers when they appeared
uj)on parade, under penalty of disbandmeut, and of
course the natural wish of the male bird for fme feath-
ers operated strongly in support of this regulation.
Ikgularly equipped, the soldiers in a Light Infantiy
Corps, according to the militia law of 1809, appeared
in "dark blue coats with white* linings, scarlet facings,
coUai-s II nd cuffs, and white underclothes, (trousers,)
and the buttons of the uniform shall be either of white
or yellov,- metal." In 1814 there was a movement
toward economy in dress, experience having doubtless
proved its expediency. An appeal for raising a new
volunteer-company says :
"A clieap, neat and bec(jming uniform is fixed upon,
calculated rather to give a soldierly ap-pearance than to
attract and j->lea.-5e the eve of childhood — It is siinplv
as follows :
"A blue broadcloth roundabout, narrow rolling col-
lar, single-breasted, buttoned in front with bell but-
tons, a row each side extending to the top of the should-
er, with one on each .side the collar. iJeaver of a
straight crown, about nine inches high, helmet front,
tliniiuishiug gradually toward the back, leaving there
only half an incli brim ; a waving red plume, the statf
of which supported bv a stri]>o of broad gold lace, run-
1^S2 JIISTORY OF WJJSTJ'OKT.
n'lu^ from the base or rim of the hat, nnd formiug a
cockade near the top, with a Darrow band of lace.
Cartonch box covered with red nioiocco, secured round
the waist by a belt of tiie same, to whici) the bayonet
scabbard will be atlixed. Yellow nankeen pantaloous,
black haudktTchief, l)oots, together Avith a musket, com-
plete the dre.^H and equipment."
The Aitilltrty wort; "'lou^ dark ])hie coats, with sear-
let linings, facinj^s, collars and cuffs;" some companies
had "dark blue pautaloous, white vests, black t:;aiters
or half boots, and rN^md or cocked liats, as may be de-
termined by the oflicers." Ariother company we find
with "yellow buttons, white underclothes, and cocked
hats with tije cockade of the Army of the United
States." There were Eitle Conjpanies wearin^^ "^reeu
frocks and pantaloons with yellow fringe, black gaiters,
lound black hats ornamented with yellow buttons,
black lou|>s iind short gree-u feathers."
GoTernor 'J'ompkins, writing in 1810 a letter which
enclosed a conirnissiou as Li<Hiteiiant Colonel, .says:
"The^iiaiform of tlie station is a i)lue coat with bull
facings, collar and cutis, Yellow F.}>aalettes, butf under
clothes, Cockud h;it, or Ch;ipe;iu bias with a Cockatle
oruMtnented b}- a Golden Eagle in tlie center and such
additional mounting as pleases you. Myself and Aids,
to distinguish ourselves from the inferior General Ofri-
cers and their staff, mount no feathers. The sword.
belt, sash, spurs and boots are left to the taste of eacli
aid who also puts embroidery or lace on his coat or
not ;vt hi.-> pleas^avo."
HISTORY OF WE ST J* OUT 2SS
Th(' cavalry color was greeu, like the ritle companie.-,
ilioui^h with mauy distiiiguisliii)^ uetails. Au order of
Sept. 3, 1805, for the foroiatiou of a troop of horse in
Now York city :
"The uuiform of the Cavalry being left by Law to be
ii.**v'd by the Commander in Chief, ho directs that it
(•onsist for the Regimental Field and Stafl' and Troop
<'>tiicers, of a short Green Coat, faced v.ith black Velvet
collars, cuffs and wings on the shoulders of the same,
light buttons on the Lappelle, two on each side of the
collar, three on the sleeve, and three on the skirt. The
buttons to be small, yellow and of a conical form, the
l)utton-holes and along the edges of the Coat '^the bot-
tom excepted) to be trimmed with gold lace or yellow-
silk binding, the buttons and Epaulettes of the like
colciur, with Iniff Vest, buckskin ]3reeches and long
black top't boots."
Examples of all these different uniforms might
sf.uietimes be seen in a militia regimout upon tiain-
iiig days and musters. Aftei- the war these trainings,
made a graud holiday for the entire population, be-
came more ftuportint and more punctiliously attend-
ed than ever before, aud the next generation grew up
Well versed in niilitary tactics, at least as presented
l>y the luilitia otMcers of a couuti-y town. ]Many an
oUl sword ami utiifoi-m which has been preserved as a
relic of the war of 1S12 dates no farther back than the
militia trainings of the years succeeding the w.-ir.
J'.ast of the ]>lack river the regular places for mili-
far\ fXer(.i>e wi^xc at Darber's Point ami North-west
'JS-J HISTORY OF WKSrrORT
V);\\. ' Meu uo inoit; than fifty yoais old cau uow re-
member the trainings in the village, sometimes on
the fiat just below the Carpenter house, sometimes in
the jiubiic siiuare in front of Person's Hotel. The nat-
ural (.Irsii-e to wash the dust out of one's throat after
the execution of arduous maneuvers on a warm sj)riug
day, together with the spirit of eonvivialit}' sure to be
awakened at the sight of (^Id comrades, led to habits of
indulgence which sometimes turned the whole occasion
iuto a farce, and partly on this account, and partly be-
cause Uncle Sam has come to depend upon volunteers
for tfte lighting of his battles the observance of the day
fell iuto disrepute, and has been long a thing of the
past.
List of Westport Men in Active Service During- the War of 1812.
Gen. Daniel Wright, Brigadier-General of the -lOth
]>rigade of Militia. He fought at Bunker Hill, served
eight months under Col. John Stark and a year under
Col. Satuuol Reed, then in Jane of 1777 was sent to
Ticonderoga, with his regiment, to await the attack of
Bar^)yue. When St. Clair evacuated Ticonderoga he
Weill with the retreating arniy, fought at Saratoga, and
saw the surrender of Jjurgoyne. After coming into Es-
s.-c county he was made "ind Major, March 24, lSO-2. 1st
Majt)r in 180(5 and Lieuteuant-('olonel Commandant
in 1807. Then February lltli, 1811, he was commis-
sioned Brigadier-General, which rank he held until he
resigned from the service !\[arch 22, IS 10, at the age of
sixtv.
HisrouY OF wsETPoirr 2So
Gen. Luraau ^Vadh;lLlls. Was couunissioned Ca]>-
taiu Feb. lltli, ISll, aud 2ud Major March 2nd, 18U.
After the war he was promoted Colonel of the 37th re-;-
irnont of Militia, March 21st, 1821, was made Bri<:;a-
dier-Gf^neral of the 40th Brigade, following Gen. Ran-
scTiu Noble, who had followed Gen. Daniel Wright.
He moved from Lewis into Westport in 1822.
Major David B. McXeil. Commi.'--.siont'd Adjutant of
the 37th regiment Feb. 11th, 1811. On March 2nd,
1814, he was commissioned Brigade Major and In-
spector upon General Wright's stafi'. He moved from
Essex to Westport in 1822, remainijig six years.
Captain Asa Aikens, more commonly known as Jndge
Aikens. He entered West Point iNov. 30th, 1807, and
was commissioned Captain in the 31st regiment, U.S. A.
April 30th, 1S13. His regiment was recrnited in Ver-
mont, and commanded by Col. Daniel Dana. He moved
from Windsor,' Yt., to "Westport in 1843.
Sergeant AVilliam Guy Hunter. Enlisted July 30th,
1814, at Windsor, A't., at the age of nineteen. He w;is
a Sergeant in Capt. Ira AMUiams' coujpnny, the 2()th
New York ^ifantry. After the war was over he went
to the Military Academy at '\^'est Point, where he re-
mained three years. Moved from Windsor, Yt., to
Westport in 1838.
Lieutenant Piatt liogers Halstead. Conunissioned
3rd Lieutenant in 2'Jth Infantry, V. S. A., Ai)ril 30tli,
1813; promoted 2nd Li.'utenant 1-Vb. 2(Uli, ISM, nnd
honorably discharged June 1"), 1815, u})on the rcduc-
ticM of the army to a peace estahlishujrut. The Cul-
'2S(j HISTORY OF WKSTJ'OJrF
ouel of tlie 29tli liifiintiT, (luaiulv a Dntchcss county
reojimt-'jit.) was Col. r^lelanctlioii Stuith of Plattsburgb,
son of Jud^^e MelaiietlKJU Sniitli of roughkeepsie.
The fliree Dieti last uained, Ciqitain Aikeus, Lieuteu-
Hi)t Halsteacl and Seigeant Hunter, were the only otli-
oerri of the regular ai-niy (in distinction from the mi-
litia) \\\\i> lived in Westport.
As for the organization of tlie militia, we hnd by I'e-
ferring to the ^Military Minutes of the Council of Ap-
P'ointment of the State of >sew York that as eaily as
April 2, 1796, a new company ^^as fornjed "of the mil-
itia at Pleasant Yale and Bettsboiongh," of which Eli-
jab JJishop was made Captain and Elijah Newoll Lieu-
tt-nant. Bishop was afterw aid a Major, and Elijah
Nt'well became later a Captain iu the 37th. Then in
179S a new regiment was formed of Clinton County
militia (then including Essex C<JuntT) to be command-
ed by Lt. Col. Daniel Eoss, in which Chiules Hatch
was made Pa-ym;ister. Further search in these volum-
inous Council Minutes reveals these names and titles
of ine^i belonging to our t(nvn.
Mfjor Hezekiah ihirber. He ^vas a Captain in 1800,
•2nd Major in ISOG, and first :Major in Daniel "Wright's
n giuient in 1S08. Dying in ISIO, he did not live to
ser- the war.
Tlio Lobdells seem to have l)eeu a warlike race. Syl-
vanus Lobdell was a (Quartermaster in ls02. "When
the first artillery company in the coimty was formed.
July n, 1801, r.oughtoii E(.b,iL-li was made 2nd Eieut.
lu bSilS we find .John Lobdell cornet in the cavalry
HISTORY OF WESTPORT -JST
troop of Tbeodorus Ross, in 1811 Ifit Lt., in 1812 Cap-
tain and iu 1817 resignerl. Jacob Lobdell was a Cap-
tain of ritieineu in 1819.
We find also mentioned : Capt. Nathaniel Hinkley,
Lt Jbomas Hinkley, Capt. Joel Finney, Capt. Elijah
8torrs, Capt. George Andrews and Lt. Samuel W.
Felt.
Captain Levi Frisbie was the most seriously wound-
ed of any of our men iu the battle of Plattsburgh, los-
ing one leg. There is a reference to him iu a letter
from General Mooers to General Wright as follows:
"Capt. Frisl/ee, by whom I had this, has called ou
uje. I have signed the certificate to which your name
is attached, or I'ather made a certificate on the back of
that, yet his name ought to be annexed to your return
of the disabled and wounded, which return I wish to
have, witii tliose of the killed, as soou as you can con-
veniently obtain them. I expect soou to set out for
Albany, and wish to take them with me,
I am, sir, your ob(.>dient servant,
p Beuj. Mooers.
Plattsburgh, 2S July, 1815.
To Brig. Geu. Daniel Wright, Elizabethtown."
Capt Jesse Braman gave his whole company break-
fast at Braman's Mills ou the morning when they start-
ed for the scene of the battle of Plattsburgli.
Two Ensigns of the oTth are mentioned, John Gree-
b-y, Jr., and Vine T. Bingham. Ensign Greeley was
wounded iu tiio ..h<juhl.r at the b;jttle of Plattsburfdi.
2Sb- iiisTony OF WKsrroirr
His father' fought at Banker Hill. Johu H. Low was
au Eusiau in 1821.
Ensign Jason Dunster was in the servico in New
Hampshire, being stationed at Portsmouth. He came
to \Yestport in 1821.
]jieut. ]!sathan DeLauo of Ticonderoga, 2nd lieuten-
ant in Capt. Mackenzie's cavaliy company, seems to
Iiave come to "Westport with his son, Josepli E. DeLano,
and was buried in this town.
Diadorus Holcoml) was Paymaster of the 37th in
1809, was made Surgeon's Mate March 2, 1811, and as
such did good servico at the battio of Plattsburg, being
afterward j.jj'ouKjted Surgeon.
In 1821 the liev. Cyrus Comstock was appointed
Chaplain of the o7th.
It must be romenjbcred that, tlieoreticidly, every man
in th^ townshi}i, over the age of eighteen and un-
der ifiii of forty-five, belonged to the militia by no
choice of his own, and was liable to military duty at any
moment upon the i-equisitiou of his superior otHcer.
He did not enlist, and he did not volunteer; he was a
soldier because he was a citizen. Nevertheless, the quo
tas r«,'quired of tiie several military districts would be
naturally filled by the men most willing to serve, and
this made it virtually a volunteer service. There are
many cla.-.-es of exempts, sucli as Government ( thcers.
HISTORY OF WE ST PORT 2S9
clergymen, ferrymen, postmasters, mail carriers, iuu
keepers, etc., as well as all those physically incapable.
My sources of information have been tliese: 1st, the
list of soldiers' graves decorated every Memorial Day
Sy the S. C. Dwj-er Post of the G. A. E., furnished me
by the kindness of Mr. Edward Osborne. 2ud, notes
made by Mr. Henry Harmon Noble from the war rec-
ords at Albany, freely given me so far as I was able to
make use of them. 3rd, Military Minutes of the Coun-
cil of Appointment of the State of New York, 17S3-
1821.
I am sorry not to have been able to spend the time
.to make out^a complete list of names for each cemetery
for nse upon Decoration Day, but this would now re-
(juire many hours' work in visiting the most remote
parts of the town, and 1 will give the names as I fiiid
them upon my notes.
Isaac Alden, Samuel Anderson, Jeduthan Barnes
Joshua Bennett, Ephraim Bull, Joseph Call, Tilling-
hast CoK^, Seymour Curtis, John Daniels, Joshua Dan-
iels, Arclubald Dunton, Elijah Duuton, David Clark
and D/'fius Ferris, (in the Vermont militia,) Asa
Farusworth, Gideon Hanjmond, Joseph M. Havens,
Ira Henders(jn, (wounded at the battle of Plattsburgh,)
Johnson Hill, Abner Holcomb, Amos Holcomb, Asa
Kinney, \Yaite B. Lavrrence, Erastus Loveland, Wilson
Low, Pl.itt pogurs Sheldon, Ebeuezer Sherman, Wil-
liam Viall.
Buried at AVadhams, besides Gen. "Wadhams, Capt.
Bramau and ]:Lnsign Du)ister, arc Benjamin Hardy, J otjl
2!)0 IJfSTORV OF WKSTPOl^r
French. Snln.on Cooper, Thomas Hadlev, ami John
\\ iiituev.
lu a Hst of invalid pensioners ^^■e find, beside^, the
names of Daniel Wright, Levi Frisbie and John Gree-
- ley, these names: John Viall, Eldad Kellog. David and
Sami^el Pangborn and Ebenezer Newell, who was a fif-
er. Among the m,n from Clinton county are Levi
Stockwell, Samuel Cook and John A. FerriJ, which are
certandy \A estport names and p.obably those of men
who afterward moved into town. L. tfus pension list
1 l.iKl Viestport surnames, like Allen, Barnes, Cxood-
speed, Johnson, Nichols, Smith and Snow, which may
indica-e citizens of our town, but which I hesitate t'o
claim because I know nothing about them.
Humphrey Sherman, (ancestor of all the Shermans
i>ow hvmg in Westport,) served on theNiagara frontier
a pru.^ in Capt. Trowbridge's company, Lt. Coi^
Heni.y Bloom's l.t regiment, Enlisted at Hector, Sen-
eca Ca, Sept. 7, 1813, discharged at Fo.t Niagara
^^■e. 1/, 1613. He afterward moved to Essex, 'and
then JO Westport. He ."as a brother of Nathan
Miei^n, who settled in Moriah and was the ancestor
o the Sherman family connected with the iron mines
there.
As for the number of men whom we sent into the
held during this war, I do not suppose tiiat we had at
^^- ti.ue one hundred and fifty men subject to militia
duty.I bavegiven the names of fifty and I doubt if there
were many more wlio actually m.-trched under military
oruers, aside from tht. drills of the trainiu^^ln s "
lUSTORY OF W?:STPORT 291
Ira Henderson and Satuucl Andorsou were both cotn-
monlv addressed as "Captain," but this does not seem
to have been in either case a military title, but rather
one used in recognition of the coraniand of sailing.'; ves-
:5«>'ls«)n the lake. Similarly, the tombstone upon which is
eafCapt. Jacob Llalstead" mast not be taken as evi-
tlence of military rank, since Jacob Halstead was born in
1300, and tiierefore only a boy of twelve when war was
ileclared, but he afterward owned and sailed tlie schoon-
er Jt'Vo//.
rievol\ilioiiai'\' Soldiei'S.
There are but few graves of men who fouglit in the
War of Independence to be found in Westport, from
the fact tl^iit settlement of this northern region did not
begin until most of the Kevohuionary soldiers were too
old and too tired with their strenuous lives to join the
■amy of the pioneers. Many of the first land-owners,
like riatt Rogers,'^ Gen. Woolsey and the Platts, had
served in the Continental Line, but they neither lived
nor ditnl here. Our most distinguished soldier, of the
lievolution as well as of the second war with Great
Britaii^ WHS Gen. Daniel Wright whose military rec-
ord has already been given.
•Piatt Rogers served in two Dutchess County regiments. Col. BrinckerhoQ's and
Col. Hopkins, and in both regiments was in CapL Brinckerhoflt's company. He
had a nephew, Ananias Rogers Sackett, (son of his sister Mary, who married Na-
thaniel Sackctt. mtinber of the Council of Safety,) who was also in Col. Brincker-
hoff's rcg:i:nent, Capt. Van Wyck's company. Piatt Rogers was often given
the title of Captain in our local records, but his righ: to thiit rank I cannot prove.
By the way, Uhere is no known relationship bi;tween Fvobert Rogers the Ranger of
the old French war, and Piatt Rogers the Road-iii.nker of Northern New York,
Rogers pond and Rogers brook in Schroon are na:ned alter the Road-maker, from
his survey of the road patent along the wcjt shore of Sciiroon lake.
292 HISTORY OF WE ST PORT
John Greeley, boru 1759, died 1852, fou<^'lit at the
battle of Buuker HiJl as a boy of sixteen. He carno
into Westport from Brookfield in 1828.
Ebenezer Durfee's tombstone declares him to have
^^•been "a soldier of the Revolution."
Samuel Pangborn died in this town in 1843, and the
notice of his deatli in the Essex County Times declares
that he ^s■as aged 80 years, and had been a soldier of
the Revolution, fighting at Brandywine and Yorl:t«')wii.
In the list of pensioners after the war of 1812 wo find
the names of both Samuel and David Pangborn. This
family seems to have been here very early, as one
Joseph -Pangburn was made pathmaster at the first
town mei/ting, in 1798.
John Whitney served in the Pievolution.
It is very likely that many of our early settlers who
were old enough, like Enos Xjoveland and John Hal-
stead, may have fouglit the battles of their country be-
fore their emigration, but in the absence of definite
family record, it is a long and toilsome task to settle
the question by research.
Ill STORY OF WESTPORT 293
Quoth t'no cedar to the reeds aud rushes.
^ '■^^ater-lJrrass, you know not what I do:
Know uot of my storms, uor of my hushes.
And — I kuow uot you."
Quoth the reeds aud'rushes, "Wind ! O waken !
^ Breath, O wind, and set our answer free !
■ For we have no voice, of you forsaken,
For the cedar-tree. "
Quoth the hero, dying, whelmed in glory,
•■:\Jany. blame me, few have UDdcr5>tood ;
Ah. my folk, to you I leave a story. —
Make it.s meanicq- (/ood. "
Quoth the folk. "Sing, poet ! teach us, prove us ;
Sureh we shall learn the meaning then ;
TVound us with a pain divine, O mo"-e us. '
For this man of men. '"
— Jka.n Incklow's "Winstanley."
Quoth c>*rr dead-and-buried forebears, Iviucr
^^ Deep iu ancient acres of the town,
"Look, the tombstones that our children o-ave us
Grudge us our renown. "^
Go. aud when ve find a heart reflective,
Where the thrill of kinship shall uot fail,
Of the lives we lived within your borders '
Tell the homely tale." '
C. H. R
/?
294 HISTORY OF WESTPOJiT
YITI.
1815 to CiviJ ^\"ar.
After the war the town settled liack into its old life,
the same, and yet not the same. Men's pulses had
•i^ieeu quickened by a call to action which had wider
reaching consequences than the daily life of the farm-
er and wood chopper. They felt themselves of the
more importance since they had been called on to fight
battles of the nation, and their acquaintance with
the older civilization of the seaboard had increased
marvelously. The frontier life, "at once more romantic
and more sordid than on the civilized seaboard," as
Fiske says of a similar condition, had become in mauv
ways less sordid and perliaps less romantic. After the
war the men on this western shore of the lake felt
themselves for the first time citizens of the state of New
York. A lai'ge portimi of the men -who fought in the
war were born in New England, and could but feel
themselves emigrants not long from home, with mem-
ories and sympathies reaching backward to the old
homes which seemed so much nearer than New York
or even Albany. Now, with the growth of the Repub-
licaiyivjr Anti-Federalist, party as the predominant po-
litical setitimfc>Dt of the town, the last link that bound
them to Federalist New England was snap])ed. Along
the Hudson river, fron) the days of the first Dutch
comers, New England had been considered a foreign
country and its people aliens, but in- the Champlain
A'allev it h;id been (^herv.ise. Here, and esoeciallv in
JJl STORY OF WESTPORT 295
Elizabethtown and Westpurt, (which had not the pro-
portion of Dutchess county immigrants found farther
to the nortliward,) New Enp^hmd was the beloved moth-
er country whicli was out-_G;rowu rather than cast off,
as tl>fe development of the town progressed.
Immigration increased after the war, probably in
nearly equal proportions from the east and south. The
necessar}' facilitation of land and water ways for the
transportation of men and military stores from the
south had made travel from that direction less difKcult.
Albany was nearer after the war than it had been be-
fore it. Commerce had been helped and not hindered
by the necessities of the war, and by the smuggling
which reached its heiglit just before. The industry of
boat-buildmg had increased immense!}', and it is
said tlnit man}- of tlio th'st wharves were built at this
time. In regard to Westport this has been impossible
to verify, and it can ouly l)e said that the conjecture
that Charles Hatch built our first wharf, at the foot of
Washiugton street, during the war, is exceedingly
plausible.
Colonial dress and customs still prevailed. The
spinning \\^e(A and loom were in every household, and
homespun was the universal wear. There were more
log cabins than frame houses in town, and the center
of evi-ry home was the great chimney with its fire-
places. Soves were alunst unheard of, and all the
cooking was done over an open fire or in a brick ov-
en. Matches were not yet invented, and if you were
so careless as to let tlio fire die out, vou must light
20G HISTORY OF WE ST PORT
it again with, fliut and tiudor, or send one of the
children to the nearest neighbor with a close covered
iron kettle in which to briiif^' liomo some coals. The
only lights were tallow candles, letters were folded and
pealed without envelopes, pins were just beginning to
be manufactured, aud thei'e were more foreign coins in
circulation than United States money, but not much
of either, as nil exchanges of value were made by the
medium of barter. The difference between a "York
shilling" and a "Vermont shilling" was of vital import-
ance to reniea^ber, as the former was twelve and one-
half cents, and the latter but nine-pence, and accounts
were still ke[)t in pounds, shillings and pence.
In regard to the means of communication, early
AVestp»rt was like early colonial Virginia,— all journeys
were made on horseback or by water. If General
Wright had occasion to go to Plattsburgh, either he
calleil the horse out of the pasture, saddled and mount-
ed aud rode away, or he went down to the lake shore at
Northwest Bay or at Essex and fouud some sailing
craft which would take him thither. Lake travel was
easier than land travel and more full of interest. Those
were tlip. days of the great rafts sent into Canada. As
Eobii^on says: "The great pines, that fifty years be-
fore had been reserved for the masting of his Majesty's
navy, were felled now by hardy yeomen who owed al-
legiance to no earthly king, and, gathered into enor-
mous rafts, voyaged slowly down the lake, impelled
by sail and sweep. They bore as their burden bar-
rels of pota-h that had been condensed froni the ashes,
in STORY OF WEST PORT 2U7
(.)f their slaiu bretlnvn." Bales of fnvs went often, too,
and when the raftsmen came back on sloop or schoon-
er from St. John's they brouglit salt and manufac-
tured goods, often of European make.
These-facts give us an outline of the town in 1815,
when the division was made between the present towns
of Elizabethtowu and Westport. That it was neces-
sary to divide the town shov/s a l:ir[;,e increase of pop-
ulation, with the corresponding^ rise of the civic spir-
it. The obvious boundary line was the Black river
in a part of its course, with the mountainous area,
which stretched through the southern part of the
town divided' by a north-aud-south line drawn from
the river to the town line. The Hon. Charles Hatch
was on the -tTommittee of division, and the matter was
soon settled. That the settlement at North-west Ba^'
liad already become the commercial centre would ap-
])t:'ar from the name adopted. The legal change was
made March 2-1, 1815, and the first town meeting ofthe
new town v,-as held "on the first Tuesday in Ai)ril,"
at the house of Charles Hatch, which stood on the
site of the large brick house so long owned by F. H.
Page, and ii^w by D. F. Payne. Hatch's house was at
that time Csed as an inn.
The proceedings of the town meeting were entered V)y
tin- clerk in a large, leather bound book, bright and
new, with "Westjiort Town Records" stam})ed on the
back in neat gold letters. It was "made and sold (with
the old fashioned long "s") at the "Troy Bookstore,
Sign of the Bible." Nt-w the glaze is worn from the
29S • lIlSrORY OF WEST PORT
lefitlier/ tliy <'old letters are tarDisljed, one cover is
loose, and the old book no loiif^er represents a future,
but an ever-receding past. It was in use until 1870,
when a new book was bought, not because the old one
was full, but because the old -fashioned paper, made
with a surface adapted to the use of quill pens, was
very difficult to write upon with a steel pen. The most
peiilous period during tlte life of the old town book
M'as at the time of the great fire of 1876, when the
building containing the town clerk's office, (the corner
store,) was burned. As the "town has never provided
a safe or an iron box for the keeping of town records,
it was only a chance that this book was saved. Per-
haps the next tire may not spare it.
Thi/is the tirst entry in the old book, v/ritten in a
careful, plain, old-fashioned hand, with ink which is
faded but not illegible.
^Vo^;tpol■t ToAvii Re<'orcl>^.
The tirst Town Meeting in theTownofWcstport, County
of Essex and State of New York, is opened at the house of
Charles tiatoh in said Town, on the tirst Tuesday in April;
agreeabl;' t(^ a l^iiw of the Le^-iskitnre passed IRIC*.
1. Vt^'tfd Enos Lovehind Supervisor.
2. lf)uton Lobdell. Towd Clerk.
?t. John fxibdell, Gideon Hammond, Diadorus Holeonib.
Assessors.
4. Levi Fi'isby. Collector. (This ofFice he held until
1828.)
5. Joseph Stacy, Charles Haleh, Overseers of thePoor.
H. Jesst^ I3rayman, Gideon Hammond, Crosby McKin-
zey, Commissioners of Highways.
7. Charles Hateh. Bouton Lotidoll, Diadorus HoicduiI),
Commlssiuucrs of Schools.
IIISTOliV OF WEST mm' 2f)0
S. Uriah Pulnior, Samuel Cook. Junr.. John Lobdell,
Inspfctors of Sc'hools.
SK Amos Smith. Jodiithaa Barues, Levi Alexatider,
Con-stables,
U). Elijah Angier, Daniel Wright. Silvanus Kiutjsley,
William Denton, Charles Hatch, Nathaniel Hinklcy. James
Coll. ['riah Palmec. Fence Viewers.
11. f:iijiah Angier. William Storrs, Charles Hatch. Elij
ah Denton, Poundniasters.
VI. Ralph Walton. Elijah Dunton, John Ferris, Junr..
Caleb P. Cole. Thouias Eniaioas. Jesse Hardey. Sainiiel
Denton, Warren 'f^ar per, John Daniels, ^rd, WillianiSlorrs.
William Denton. Elijah Storrs, Joseph Stacy, Harve\'
Suamer, Overseers of Highways.
13. To Raise Double the sum allowed by the State for
the Supi.>ort of Common Schools.
14. To Raise ten Dollars to Purchase Town IJooks.
].'■>. To Raise twentv Dollars for the Support of the
IV-r.
1)1. Horned Cattle Commoners from the first of April
till the first of November no Longer.
17. The owner of a Ram Shall pay five Dollars that lets
iiini Rnnat largO'from the first of September to the Mfteenth
"' November.
15. The Town Meeting adjourned to the house of Rou-
tu;: Lobdell. the first Tuesday of April lSl*i.
Division of Hiy:hway Districts in the Town of Westport
for the year 1815.
No. 1. iJegiuning at the South Line of the Town on the
Lake Road thenee North to the north bank of .Mullins
Hrool:. (Ralph Walton, overseer.)
2. Nortii to south end of the first Bridge North of Coil's
Miiis. iticludi'^' the Road west to Asa A. Andrews as far
as the Sheari^n Brook. (Elijah Dunton.)
3. Beginning at the south end of the tiist Bridge North
of Cttll's .dills thenct." North to the South Line of Holcomb's
farm Dicluding Ijoth Roads to widow Barber's ferry.
(Joi)u Ferris, Jr.)
4. Beginning at the south line of Holeomb's farm theuee
North t(.» the two n)ile niarke Between N. W. iiay and
<\iats' Mill Including the Road to Es.sex to the east. (Calet.
V Cole.)
."). Line of the Ft>!-ri> li>t DjcIudinL'- the Road to the
300 IIISrORY OF WKSrrORT
east liue of Silvan us Kini^'sley's oald ticld. (Thomas Ein-
inoifs.) ^^^
1/ Be]Hunintr at the East line of the Foi'ris Lot, theuc*'
-North tu the town Hue, Iacludin(,' both Roads to P'.xk
harbor and the Road by Obediah \'aughan's place to tho
voad that Leads from Coats Mill to N. W. E^av. (Jesse
Hardy.)
7. Betriuninij at the two Mile mark between N. W. Bay
and Coats Mills, thence North to the Town line, Includiu:j-
the road from Bra-yniao's east to the Town line. (Samud
Denton.)
8. Be(,nnuint,' at the West end of the Bridge at Citats
Mill, thence west to Elast line of Joel Finney "s farm. (Wai--
reu Harper.)
9. Beginning at the east line of Silvaiius Kingslev
farm, thence westerly on the New Court House Road to
the west line of the same, including the Road from Sam i
Storrs farm, thence north to Jonas Morgan's Barn. In-
cluding the Road from Joel Finney's east line to New
Court House Road. (John Daniels, 3rd.)
10. Beginning at the Town line near Morgan's New
J'orge, thence East to the Road leading from Coats' Mill to
Joel Finney's. (William Storrs.)
11. Beginning at the town line near Abi'aham Slaugh
lers, theace easterl} by J. Storrs till it Intersects th--
Court House FJoad near Silvauus Kingsley Including the
road to Eldad Kellogg's. (William Denton.)
12. Beginning at the town line near Southwell's Forge,
thence east to ihe Bridge west of ITalstead's field, ]nclua-
iijg the road by Aaron Bingham's. (Eli^jah Storrs.)
li-i. Beginiiing at the Southwell road near Abui-r
Slaughter's, thence south to the south lineof theL-Dw frtrm.
i««£?^Kiiug the road bv ilammond's to the aforesaid South-
well road. (Joseph Stiicy.)
14. L5t\Lntining at the Southwell r»xid near Esq. Love-
laud's, thence easterly bv John Nichokls and Stacys till it
intersects the lake road near Elijah Duuton's. (Harvev
Sumner.)
15. Beginning at the Crotch of the Road Between Shar-
inan's and Mullins Brook, thence Northerly by George H.
Andrews until it Intersects the Road by Joseph Stacys,
Including the road from Howard's east to the Sharmaiv
Brook including thi.' road to Danl. MCot)lev.
Signed John rv»!)d.-ll and (iideou H.iuunoud.
Coumiissiouers of Highwavs.
HISTORY OF WSFTJ^ORT :^01
Tlieu there are alterntious of old roads fuid snvvcy
Mils of ueu'/ oues, with the suvveyors' directions, too
tedious to ii?^**>aut, signed by Samuel Cook, Jr., and by
Itliar Judd as surveyors.
Euos LoveL\iid was already' supervisor of the nudi-
\ idod town of Elizabeth town at the time of the division.
}!o had been supervisor in 1809, LSIO and LSll. Then
f^a- two years Azel Abel fdled tiie office, and in 183-1
Enos Loveland was again elected. Bouton Lobdell
was SlieritT of the county in 1815 as well as our town
clerk. He and his brother John were doubtless sons
of Sylvanus Lobdell, first clerk of the town of Eliza-
bet htown,
"Tl)e new court house road" was the present stage
road from Westport to Elizabethtown. It would seem
tli;it up to this time the regular route to Pleasant Val-
ley from the Bay was b}- way of Meigsville. Early
roads followed high ground, avoiding marshes and
.-<u auips, and it took a great deal of corduroy to make
the present road passable. Since Enos Loveland lived
on the most travelled road to the county court house
from the Bay, his house was much more accessible for
the transa«i^^i of town business than would appear at
liist thought.
"The road from Howard's"' was a part of the back
road. The allusion is not, I think, to the present fami-
ly of Howards, who cnme in somewhat later from Yer-
mout, but to a "D<;acon Howard" who came from the
south by way of Pleasant Valley. July 12, 1817, ^'Dea-
<"on Howard and wifL-" i»re.sented a letter to the bapti.^t
:i02 HISTORY OF WKSTPORT
clinrcli wliich was accepted. Xov. 12, 1817, the deatli
o^ Bio. Keiidrick Howard is recorded iu the cburcli
bt^k. On Nov. 13, 1S19, a letter from the church "at
Jamaica/" (pr(iV)ably on LtMjg Islaud,) was presented l>y
"Sister rhihi Howard." Deacon Howard was oftm
njentioufd after this in ti>e cliurcli transactions, until
February of 18-2'2 letters of dismission were given '■Dea-
con Howiird and wife and sister Phila Howard," indi-
cating that it was their pnrpi)se to inove away. A son
of this Deacon Howard, Leland Howard, received tli^
ilegi-ee of A. M. from Middlebury College iu 1S2S, and
becan)e a ]3aptist ujinister, preaching in Troy and iu
Ivutland. James Howard, sou of Leland, was at out^
time Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut.
This year and the next the Angiers came iu from
New Ham]pshire, and settled iu the northern part of
the town, near the Essex line, in the vicinity of "Angier
Hill." There were thrtn^ brotliers, Calvin, lillijah anil
Luther, grandsons of Silas Angier, a Iievolutionavy
soldier."
*Calvin Angler's first wife was Betsy Chandler, of Fitzwilliain, N. H. bhc
hati one (.hild, E)!7.a, who afterward married Sylvester Young. The second wifr
wri^l'olly Dcnison, from Walpole, .N'. H. Her children wt re.
i*^^'jncy Lorame, married a Hammond and lived in Ticonderog'a.
2. Willi.im Denibon, mirried Amy Reynolds.
\. Mary Ann, marnei! Lorenzo Gibhs.
4. Merlin Ward, married Jane Gihbs.
klijah Anjfier was tliriie married. His first wife was Orilla Chandler, and her
children were Calvin, Lucy and Levi. His second wife was Orissa Char.d'.cr,
prr^umably tlie .-is".er of Orilla, and she had no children. His third wife, whom
he mirried after iumin)f to \Vestport, was N'arcissa Loveland, daiinhtcr of tnos,
and her children were Onlla, Charles, Pcrrin, Pcrsis and Salinda. Mary Jane
and Anson died in infancy.
Ihe wife of Lulher Angier WIS Sar.ih Hiur.ly.and th.-u children were Eiu;ly
Luther, Aaron, Gt;_or)jc, M-irijaret and Allen.
HISTORY OF WFSTFORT :n>:-f
1810.
TowD Meetinof opened agreeable to udjourumeDt at the
houst''of Bouton Lobdell ou the first Tuesday in April,
1S16. -"'■
1. Voted Charles Hatch Supervisor.
2. Boutou Lobdell, Town Clerk.
H. Jobii Lobdell. Joseph Stacy, Jesse Braman, Assessors.
4. Levi Frisbie, Collector.
5. Joseph Stacey, Enos Loveland, Poor Masters.
(1. John T>obdell. Cideon Hammond, Joseph Staeey,
Coins, of Highways.
7. Charles Hatch, Samuel Cook, Jr., Bouton Lobdell,
Com. of Common Schools.
8. Ivevi Frisbie. Araos Smith, Timothy Sheldon. Con-
.stables.
9. Timothy Sheldon. Asa A. Andrews, John Lobdell,
Euos Loveland, Jesse Braman, John Weston. Inspectors
of Common Schools.
10. Timothy Sheldon. Elijah Dunton. Caleb P. Cole,
Joseph S':ac'ey. Joel Finney, Daniel Wric^'ht. John Weston.
Enos Loveland. Fence Viewers and Pound Masters.
U. Amos Panufborn. Thomas Dunton, Geor^-e B. Reyn-
olds. Thomas Emmons. Daniel "Wrii^ht, Jesse Braman.
Jtibn Harper. Joel Finney, John Lewis, Samuel Storrs,
En^)s Loveland, John Strincrham, John Xicholds. A.sa A.
Andrews. Overseers of Hi (fh ways.
12. To raise double the sum allowed by the State for
the suppoit of Common Schools.
\?>. To raise twenty Dolla-'s for tbo Support of the Poor.
14. Town Meetintr adjourned to the house of Bouton
Lobdell on the first Tuesday in April, 1S17.
SurveyVf the road from the house of Almon Phillips in
the town a^Essex to the upper falls in the town of Ticon-
doro<ra. acL-ordiUi: to an act of the Legislature passed in
the session of 1.^14.
The ])oiuts mentioned are Thomi)sou's house, Northwest
Bay. Duut)n's. Deac()n Uriah Palmer's, and "'opposite
Stot;e"s house." Surveyed by Jonathan Wallis, Jr.. 1814.
Signed by Charles Hatch, Levi Thompson. Ransom Noble.
Commissioners. Recorded March 20, 1817.
I aui uot sure where the house of Boutou Lobdell, in
^vliirli llie seeojjt.1 town iijettiug was hold, stood iu ISIG.
:i04 U J STORY OF WESTPOIiT
Lliave been tt:)ld that he built the house in the north
part of the vilhij^e, at the top of the "Mclntyre liill,''
r^fwr owneil by Dr. Morse of Boston, but it is doubtful
if this house was built as early as 1810.
The summer which followed this town meeting? was
known as "th.e cold summer," or "eighteen hundred and
starved to death," when it is said that snow fell dur-
ing every month of the year. Some accounts motlify
this by exeeptiuij; August. It is certain that it was a
season phenomenally cold and dry, with an almost uni-
versal failure of crops. It was felt through all New
Englaud, as town liistories of that section attest. Al-
most every family has legends to relate of the experi-
ences of that year. In my own family we tell the story
of my grandmother, then a little girl seven years old,
being sent out into the garden to pick green currants
in the snow, because a snow storm had fallen after the
currants were formed, and it was plain that there was
no use wiiiting for the fruit to ripen.
In this year the lied Bird line of stages, running
from New York to Montreal, was established by I^eter
Comstock, and marks a great advarce in the means <:>f
tiT'flCcJ. State aid in the maintenance of the princi[)al
)OKds followed, and W'estport took another step nearer
the seaboard.
Not until March 2o of 1810 did the Baptist church,
by a vc^te of its members, change its name fioiu
"Northwest Bay Church" to "First Baptist Church of
West])ort." AjuI at almost the same time another
churcii was formed in the town. It began as the Baj)-
ni STORY OF WEsrroRr soo
tist cliurc]i had begun, as a necessity for the spiritual
life r.f settlers from older communities who had brought
their religion with them when they came.
Since 1796 this region had formed part of a Metho-
dist circuit, with a fev.- heroic preachers who threaded
the wilderness in search of souls, and it is quite likely
that Westport had been visited by some of them before
this, but we have no record before the spring of 1816,
when Moses Amadou was sent to preach in the south-
ern part of the town. Here the most stirring and
prominent Methodist was Capt. Levi Frisbie, not at all
the kind of man to hide his light under a bushel,
whether the business on hand was fighting or praying.
\Yhen the first class was organized he was its leader,
and there were but four other members. One was his
wife, Sally, another whs Amy Hatch, wife of Charles
Hatch, and there were also Clara Low and Lydia Dun-
ton. Soon after were added John Low, Mrs. Good-
speed, John Ferris and Patience his wife, Mrs. Widow
Martin, Lucy Lovcland, v/ife of Erastus, and Betsey
Farusworth, daughter of Cliarles and Amy Hatch.
Most of these people lived south of the village, except
Mrs. I'^ch and Mrs. Loveland, who lived at Northwest
Bay. Preaching was in the school house on the lake
road, in the district which we now call '"Graetre's," and
sometimes at the Bay, as we find the next year that the
Baptists gave up the use of the school-house there to
their Methodist brethren "one-eighth of the time,"
which is supposed to mean that the Methodists expected
the circuit rider only once in two mouths. The social
306 HISTORY OF WESTPORT
ineetiugs were held at the house of Captain Frisbio, a
Jog bouse standing where the stone house now stands
wj^ich his son Levi so long occupied, at Fisher's Mill
on Mullein brook, and at Low's, which was near the
place where Henry Sheldon now lives. The early quar-
terly meetings to which people came from all parts of
the Ticonderoga Circuit, (which "embraced all the
country south of the top of tb.e mountains between the
Ansable river and Willsborough to Lake George,")were
held in Captain Frisbie's barn, and afterward in the
grove in the village just north of the Sherwood cottage.
We know that in September of ISIG Captain Amos
A. Durfey was on board his sloop CJio.m]tJai)i, as Sam-
\\e\ Cook had afterward occasion to make afhdavit (in
a case where it necessary to prove an alii>i) that he
went with him to Whitehall. The famous lake pilot,
Phineas Durfe}', belonged to this family of Westport
Durfeys, and they all had a natural love for the water.
1817.
Town .Meetiug opened agreeble to adjournment in the
liuuse of Buutou Lubdell hi said town on the first Tuesday
hjXVd. 1817.
1. Voted John Lobdell, Supervisor.
2. IJoutuu Lobdell. Town Clork.
3. Gideon Hammond, Timothy Shelden, Enos Loveland,
Assessors.
4. Gideon Hammond, Timothy Shelden, Jesse Rraraan,
Com. of Highways.
5. Levi Ftisbie, Collector.
»•). Enos Lovoluud, Jo.sepb Stacey, Poormasters.
7. Bouton Loudoli. Samuel Cook, Jr.. Diodoras Hol-
eomb, Conunissiouers of Common Schools.
in STORY OF WESTPORT 307
8. Levi Frisbie. Warren Harper, Charles Fisher,
Chuuies B. Hatch. Coustables.
9. Jesse Braman, Daniel Wrijrht, Caleb P. Cole, Sam-
uel Cook, Jr.. Timothy Sheldeti, George H. Andrews, John
Lobdell. Samuel Storrs, Fence VicvversaudPouud ^Masters.
10. 5>iiomas Walton, Thomas Duutou, Jr., Asa Love-
latad, Jacob Mathews, Calvin Angier, John Weston, Sam-
uel Denton. Johnson Hill, Isaac kna])p, Amos Smith. Ly-
man Smith, David Chandler, John Nichols, George H.
Andrews, Overseers of Highways.
11. To raise seventy-five dollars for the support of the
poor.
12. Piatt R. Halstead, John Lobdell. Enos Loveland.
Timothy Shelden, John Weston, Asa A. Andrews, In-
spectors of Comnion Schools.
IH. That the P.allance due of ten Dollars— Pvaised in
1S15 for the Purchase of Tow^o Books Being three Dollars
t.t thirty four cents, now in the hands; of Enos Loveland.
Ksqr.. be applied for the purchase of three Locks for Elec-
tion Boxes, a-nd residue (if any) to the support of the Poor.
Oo the ni«^bt of Jauuary 15, 1817, occurred a great
domestic calaiuitj, and one which occasioned much ex-
citement in tl)e village. It was the burning of the
house at Basin Harbor. The first liotise stood, like
the present one, in full sight across the water, and I
suppose no member of the houscliold of John Hal-
stead ever rose in the morning without turning a tirst
outward look toward the old home. To the oldest son,
whose «^h"th place it had been, it was almost more a home
than his father's house, and during the war which was
only three years in the past his most vivid experiences
had been connected with it. There Commodore Mac-
donough and his oflicers had sat in the parlor on the
seconil Ihjor, witli their wine glasses and toijaceo, while
the great kitchen below was filled with sailors drinking
thtjir ale, and the boyish lieutenant had been proud to
SOS HISTORY OF WKSTl'ORT
ilrittk with the other officers, ami to feel himself a part
of -it, all — that potout esprit da corp>i seen nowhere else
as it is seen in army life. And now instead of the
friendlv glitter of windows in the morning sun, he saw
a colij"inn of smoke lisiuj^ from roofless and blackened
walls, and knew that the house had burned in theni^-^ht.
It was only four miles away, but the lake had frozen
thinly over the day before, making asheetof ice through
which it was impossible to force a boat, while it was
not considered strong enough to bear tlie weight of a
man. But tlie occasion was desperate, and young Hal-
stead, accompanied by another man, (Jacob Pardee, I
think.) put on his skates and started out. They agreed
to keep a long distance apart, since ice which will bear
the weight of one may not bear the weight of two, and
each promised that if one broke in the other should
not stop nor go near him, but keep skating for dear
life, as the only safety lay in swift motion. The ice
bent under them like leather, but they went like the
wind and got across in safety. Half way over the ice
was covered with ashes and cinders blown from the
ruins of the burned house, and as he skated Halstead
saw H'^iing past him a charied leaf of tire great family
Bible, whicli he had turned at his grandmother's knee.
The house and its contents were a complete loss, the
family barely escaping with their lives. Many an heir-
loom went up iu smoke that night, and niany a record
which has never been replaced. The present house
was built npon the old foundation the following sum-
mer, very like it in gentu'al features, and with a great
HISTORY OF WEST PORT r.OO
chiinuej and fireplaces which havo since been removed,
T4^e next July Presideut James Monroe went through
the lake, taking the steamboat at Whitehall and arriv-
ing at Plattsburgh on Saturday, July 27, at noon. The
Bteai?iboat must have been the Phonx, Capt. Jahaziel
Sherman, the second steamboat on ilie lake, built at
Yergennes in 1815. Her name was prophetic, as she
was burned about two years after she carried the Presi-
dent.
1818.
Town Meetioir opened agreeable to adjourumeul at the
s(;hool bouse in District No. 'd in said towu on the 7th day
of April, ISIS.
1. Voted Johu Lobdell. Supervisor.
2. Boutou Lobdell, Town Clerk.
3. Enos Loveland, Gideon Ilammoud, George H. An-
drews. Assessors.
4. Levi Frisbie, Collector.
5. Enos Loveland. Joseph Staecy , Ovei'soers of the Poor.
(). John Lobdell, Gideon Hammond, Timothy Shelden,
Com. of Highways.
7. Boutou Lobdell, Diodoras Holcomb, Samuel Cook.
Jr., Com. of Coinnion Schools.
8. Alexander Spencer, Johu Lobdell, John Wcstou,
Daniel W. .Stiirtt- vaut, Timothy Shelden, Enos Loveland,
Inspectors of Cominou Schools.
0. ^Yalle^■^V. Kellogg. Levi Frisbie, Charles Fisher.
Con stay OS.
10. 5\:iot]iy Shelden, Joseph Stacey. George B. Reyn-
olds, Calviu Aagier, Samuel Storrs, Piatt R. Halstead.
Fence Vievirers and Pouad Masters.
n. Jesse Jones, John Sliarman, James W. Call. John
Ferris, Jr., Amos Culver, Elijah Angier, Jesse Bramau,
Augustus Hill. Johu Kiugsiey, Isaac Kuapp, Josei»n
Storrs, Eli Ferris, Johu Chandler, Cyrus Eiichards, Joseph
Stacey, Jr., Overseers of Highwavs.
iL'. That Fence Viewers and Pound Masters have sev-
t-nty ceul.-^ pt-r day.
:^]() JIISrORV OF WESTroRT
lo. To raise double the sum ullovved for tbo support of
coiumoii s.eh(x>ls.
"^lA. To raise oue hundred dollars for the su[)port of the
poor.
]o. Touii Mectiiii^f adjourned to the school house in
Disl. No. >\ in said To^'iion the tirstTuesday in April, ISll*.
"^•^J^e "school house in District No. 3" was at North-
west Bay, aud stood on the south side of the bridge, on
the place where Low Fuller's house now stands. It
was the largest public buildiui;; then in town, and was
used not only iov town meeting, but for the Sunday
seivices and business meetings of both churches.
Nothing more tiresome can be conceived than the
literary style of the descriptioub of the highway dis-
tricts in the town book, but man}- interesting facts can
be gleaned from them nevertheless. This year we find
mention of "Braman's ;^Jill," which seems to have been
called "Coats' Mill" in 1815, ff)r no reason that I can
discover. The place is called invariabh l^raman's
Mills after this until 182-2, when we find "Wadham's
and Braman's Forge," and shortly afterward ^Yadll;un's
Mills, a name which still endures.
AYe tind also "Brayuard's barn" and "Braynard's
Forge" as landmarks this year, and "Hatch's wharf,"
the first mention of a wharf in tlie records, though we
believe it to have been built some years before this
time.
lu July of 1818, the body of General Eichard Mont-
gomery, who was kiiletl at tlie attack uf)on Quebec, on
the last day of the year 1775, and who was buried near
the ramparts of that city, was carried from Quebec to
JILSTOR}' OF WE ST PORT 311
New York, and giveu its final burial in St. Paul's
ehurchjarcl. Sa3-s Watson, "The remains of Mont-
gomery were borne through the country, accompanied
\>y ever}' exhibition of love and reverence." The fu-
neral train passed up the lake on the Fheniv, draped
with the tiappiugs of woe and the insignia of the state,
with ilags floating at half mast, as we now see the line
boat on similar occasions. Forty-three years had
passed since Montgomery and his army went down the
lake to Canada, and at that time there was no village
in Northwest Bay, and no eye save that of deer or wolf,
ghiucing out of the thicket, to see the advance of the
army. A few souls there were at the Puiymond settle-
ment, to be driven away the next year, never to return.
Now the Champlain valley had changed marvelously,
with farms and villages, and a pushing, fearless life of
industry on both land and water.
This year four Westport men received the appoint-
ment of Justice of the Peace: Bouton Lobdell, Enos
Loveland, John Lobdell and Gideon Hammond. Jus-
tices were not yet elected, but appointed by the Coun-
cil of Appointment sitting at Albany.
Isaac Stone came from Cavendish, Yt., and settled
on the lake road, on Bessboro, on the farm so long
owned by his son Granville, and which has been only
recently sold out of the family. On this farm is the
stoue quarry.
1819.
Town Meetioi,' opened agreeable to adjourLuneut at the
•Vi? HISTORY OF WKSTI'ORT
school house ia District No. ?> in the Said Town ou the Gth
da'V of April, 181!».
1. \'oted Johu Lobdell, Supervisor.
2. Ebeuczer Newell, Town Clerk.
3. Gideon Hammond, Enos Lovcland, Georo^e H. An-
drews. Assessors.
4. Levi Frisbie, Collector.
5. Enos Lovelund. Joseph Stacey, Overseers of the
l^oor.
6. Joel Burrow^s, Timothy Shelden. Jesse Bramau.
Com. Hiirhwavs.
7. Samuel Cook, Jr., Diodorus Ilolcomb, Charles B.
Hatch, Com. of Schools.
8. Enos Lovcland. John Lobdell, Gideon Hammond.
Alexander Spencer, Elijah Storrs, Joel Burrows. Inspec
tors of Schools.
9. Levi Frisbie, Walter W. Kello<:g, Charles Fisher,
TUlinghast Colo. Constables.
10. Timothy Shelden, Jra Henderson, Cajeb P. Cole.
Elijah Dunton, Samuel Storrs, Joel Finney, No.^ton Noble,
Elijah Storrs, Daniel Wrii^ht, Joel BCirrows, Fence View-
ers.
n. Charles Hatch, Pound Master.
VI. Daniel P. Lock, Charles Wood, Elijah Dunton. Til-
linghast Cole, Charles Hatch. Henry Thatcher, Daniel
Wright, Joseph Hardy, Sanjuel Denton. Samuel Storrs.
John Daniels. Hrd. Johnsou Hill. Lyman Smith, John
Chandler. Harvey Stone. Johu Shcai'man. Jr., Overseers
High\. ays.
Voted tu raise ten dollars to build a pound thirty feet
square, si.K feet high, to be paid to Charles Hatch. Esqr..
he tiuding ground to Sett said pound on, with a good door
and loek.
To raise double the sum for the use of schools that we
receive from the state.
To raise one hundred and fifty dollars for the support
of the poor.
That the (jverseers of the pcK)r be authorized to hire a
bouse for the benetit of the poor.
It will liave been observed that the sum raised yearly
for the support of the poor steadily increased, from
twenty dollars in ISlo to one hundred and til'ty in 1811>
u [STORY OF wKsrroirr :u:i
.-liowiuij; a large increase of population. At this time
each town assumed the entire care of its paupers, the
tust move toward adopting the plan of county sup])ort
of tlie poor being made in 1S18, and the county house
built in 1S33.
This year Ezra Caitor Gross was our llepreseutative
in Congress. He was the young lawyer associated with
^\'illiauJ Ka}- in the editorship of the Ri'veUh iu 1812,
and his daughter afterward taught in the Academy here.
This year the old system of making the fence view-
ers also pound masters with the duty of keeping stray
animals in their own barnyards until reclaimed by
tliiir owners, was changed, and one pound master ap-
pointed for the whole town. The pound was to be built
at Northwest Bay, wliicli shows the relative importance
of that place at this time. That the village was grow-
iiiL; rapidly is also siiown by the fact that in this year
the northern part of it was mapped into streets and lots.
When Charles Hatch came in 1802 he settled just
outside the limits of the Ananias map, drawn to facili-
tate the sale of John Halstead's land. Some time af-
terward he bought the corner lot at the top of the lake
hill, and there built the first store, which was for a long
time the only one in tlie township. His dealings pros-
pered, and iu seventeen years' time he had beconje pos-
sessed of the greater ]iart of the land north of the
territoVy of the Ananias map, and seeing that there was
a demand for village lots, he employed Diadorus Hoi
cond>, who seems io have tidded to his ujedical ed\ica-
iiiiji a knowledge of surveying. t'.» maj) out the laud.
314 iifSTORV OF wi:sTrc)irr
The map wliich was drawn Las passed tliiougb uianv
bands, and has had one or two thrilling escapes from
destruction, but is still preserved entire, and an exact
copy now hangs in the village Library. The original
map was drawn with a quill pen on heavy paper, and
backed with cloth. It is made in two parts, called Map
No. 1 and Map No. 2, the tirst extending from Wash-
ington street to the brook, and the second from the
brook to the north line of the lot upon which stood the
old Richards House, now burned. At the right of th-^
map is the following descri{)tion.
At the request of Charles f^ateh, Esqr., 1 have surveyed
ov laid out. cornered and numoered. on the west side of
Lake Champlaiu. adjoining Xoi-tb West Bay. in the Town
of West Port, County of BIssex and State of New York, the
lots of laud and streets herein laid down and marked,
a^jreeable to .Mao Number Fi)-st and Second.
The courses of the lots are known by the courses of the
streets thereon written. Washiutjton Street. Main Street,
l^leasant street and North Street are sixty-six feet wide.
Water Street, Charles Street and East Street are thirty-
three feet wide. P^ach lot not otherwise described is a
regular oblong' square, being fifty feet in front and rear
and one hundred feet deep. Those lots which vary ar-^
marked in feet on the line thus varyintr. Each lot is cor-
nered with a red cedar stake.
Those lots on Map No. 1st east of Main Street are cor
mued or numbered on the .south west corner. Tiiose lo's
on Ma[) No. 2nd west of East Street are numbered on ti;e
north wfst corner. Those east of East Strei^t are num-
bered ou the .south east corner.
Being tifty-eit^ht lots ou Map No. Ist.thirty-twt) ou Mu[>
No. 2n'i. amounting to ninety lots iu all. Both Maps ari^
laid to a scale of ei;zlity feet to an inch.
Perfornu'fi .\ui,'ust 2r>th. IKllt. by Diodorus Holomb.
Surveyor.
Here we have four new streets named. Pleasant.
N'jrth, CharK's and F-ast,, and on the uKip itself we tind
lilsToiiY OF wi:.stj'()/:t :uo
^lill Street, runuiiii^ from the brid^^e to tlio "old stoiio
mill," wliich was perhaps the New Stone Mill tliat
year, though Henry Holcouib thought that hn chhiM
reineujber before it was built, and as he was only three
years old when the map was drawn, it would be reas-
onable to date its ei'eetion no earlier than 18'25. It was
a grist Diill, as the mill stones still in nidi will prove,
atid bo;its loaded and discharged their freight at 'the
wljarf below it, the ruins of which can still be seen at
low water. The roof a]id chimney of the mill did not
fall in until the summer of 1900.
If the mill .was not l>uilt in 1819, it is plain from the
name and direction of Mill street that Squire Hatch
had ah'ead^' planned it. He had also laid out a tier of
lots between Water street and the lake, which can have
had no value except as possible places to build wharves.
Another new stieet was laid out, named Charles street,
undoubtedly in honor of Charles Hatch liimself, run-
jiing east and west just south of tlie M. E. church, 1
.-^houhl think, and up the hill [last Mr. Andrew Daniels,
wljich was nevL-r opened. Anotlier street whose name
is entirely sti-auge to the ])reseut generatit)ti was East
street, wliich ran ah^ng the western bank of the brook
toward its mouth, turning in at the west of the bridge.
^\"heu the map was drawn, this street gave acce.ss to a
mill whicli stood on the bank of the brook below the
bridge.
Pleasant and North are two of our principal stieets
now, one running to the west and the other to the north
/)-oin tl.ie bi'iilge. Since the buililing of the lailroad
:iio lusroNY OF wEsrroirr
Pleasant street has come t() be spokeu of as "Depot
street," but surely it is a pity not to use the old names,
since they are all such gooil ones. As a matter of fact,
I suppose there are hardly ton people in town who
kuow the location of Wasliintiton or of Pleasant street,
or can tell when they were named, or by whom, — })er-
adveuture there may not be five to whom the informa-
tion to be obtained from this old map will not be en-
tirely new.
Judge Hatch (he was appointed Judge of the Court
of Common Pleas in 1814/seen)s to have owned all the
land of this map with the exception of three large lots.
One of these, lying just south of the bridge, on the east
side of Main street, is marked "Win. S. McLoud's Lot,"
and then across it in another hand is written "Porter
Lot." On North street, where the Pvichards House
afterward stood, is "Ira Henderson's Ijot," and along
the brook above the bridge, where most of the mills
stood at that tiuu% lie "B. Merrick's Lots." This must
mean that Barnabas ^lyrick had already bought land
here. He was at this time a young uian of twenty-four.
He afterward built the large white house on North
street, with its pillared porch in two stories, looking
toward the lake, and he owned and operated a saw
mill, tannery and ashery at Northwest Bay, as well
as forges on the lUack river and at Wadhams.
As we have seen, three streets named on these old
maps are not now in existence, excopt that part of Wa-
ter street which extends north from the steamboat
wharf. It is evident that these earliest map makers
jiistohy of wsiyrroirr :ut
lujlicNfd tLat the future jj;ro\v{h of the village would be
!nuch closer to the water's edge tliau was actually
the case, and sites for wharves were more ljif];lily valued
thau has since been justified by the develoj)njent of
tiie town.
Liberty street was not opened until \^\-A\, nor the
short street which connects it with Washiupiton. The
stiet>t which runs west from the old Douglass wharf,
now owned b}' D. F. Payne, was not opened until after
1825, and the streets north and west from the Marks
cottage still later. None of these later streets has ever
received a name, except the one opened in 1889, at the
same time of the opening of Oklahoma Territory to
white settlement, which was therefore popularly desig-
nated as Oklahonni, and is still known by that name.
A committee of citizens to choose suitable names for
the streets opened since the making of Hatch's map,
would do a public service for which future generations
might well thank them, provided that the names se-
lected were appropriate, pleasing in sound, not too
rommon, and, if possible, suggestive of persons or
events influential in Westport history.
No map of the village seems to have been drawn from
1810 to 1870, when the large atlas of E^sex county was
published by O. W. Gray c^- Sc^i, Thila. The latter
shows the village as it was just before the tire of 1870,
nnd is consequently of the greatest value.
Town UieerifiLT iii'Ui af the seho(»I house in District No. H,
April 4.
:us iiisToin' OF WKSTJ'uirr
Charles Hatch, Supervisor.
Kbeuezer Ntnvoll. Clork
John r^>bdell, (iidoon Hammotui. Joseph Stacey. Asses-
sors.
Lovi Frisbio, Collector.
Eno.s Lovolund and Joseph Sta(^ev, Pooniuisters.
Joel Earrouifhs, Jesse Braiiian, Timothy bheldoii, Com-
riiisioncrs of IJi<:lnvays.
Diadorus Uolcoinb" Charles B. tfatch. Piatt R. Halstead,
Coiiiniissiouers of Commou Schools.
Leman Bradley, Harry Stooe. Joel Biirroii^bs. lDs[)ei--
tors of Schools.
Levi Frisbie. Rufus Ashley. Walter W. Kello^i,''. Cousta-
bles.
Joel Biirroutfbs, Jesse Braman. Charles Hatch. James
Coll, Joseph Stacey. Piatt Sheldou, EaosIx>veland, Samuel
Storrs, I'ence Vie^"ers.
Charles B. Hutch, Pound Master.
Overseers of Highways. — AppoUos Williams. Piatt Shel-
dou. Isaac Stone, Jesse Mooers. Aj,a Lyon. Samuel Chan-
dler. Henry Royce, Francis Hardy. William Storrs, John
Lobdell. John Chamberlain, Walter W. Kello^jf":, Enos
Ti.)Veland. Gideon Hammond. Harry Stone. Abel Culver.
Survey of the Alteration in the road leadincr from ColTs
Mills to the Ferry, the Alteration betjiuning nearly op-
posite the Hou.>>e now occupied by Daniel Johnson. (Sur-
veyor's directions) —uotil it intersects the old road a;jain
nrar the top of the hill east of Odie's Bay.
This j-ear a beij;inuiu<^ was made at recortliug iu th^^
tdwii book the earmarks used V)y tlie farmers as .i
mt.'aiis of identifying; their cattle and sjieep. The niost
that the farmers of tli(~)so days could do was to fence
tlit'ir cleared and plowed haul, while their ])astures
stretched unfouced as far as tho forest itself extended.
Yonnj]; cattle and slieej) were often turned put in the
spring and left to r-i.-un all sninracn- in this common
pastur;ige. In the fall the farmer drove in all his stock,
and in oriler to separate his own frtnu his neii/Jiliors,
iiiSToiiY OF WEsrronr :uo
(listiiif^uisliiiig marks were necessary. In tlif west of
■to-ilay the cow boys brand tlieir stock, but in the east-
ern colonies "earmarks" made with a sharp knife, were
used, and it was common to record them in the town
books. ]-*erhaps the custom wjis becomlnf^j obsolete,
for only one ear-mark is here recorded, though a large
sjtace was left at the back of the book. This was ''Eli-
jah Angler's IMark, A Cross of the Left Ear."
In this 3'ear, 1820, there were large additions to both
churches, and a general revival, followed by years of in-
creased prosperity. The presiding elder of the Ticon-
dcroga Circuit ^vas then John B. Strattou, and Jame.s
Level, preacher. In the history of tlie-M. E. Church,
prepared In- tlie liev. J. E. Bowen, to which T am en-
tirely indebted for facts concerning this church, men-
tion is made of these names added in 1820: Sally Fris-
bie. (daughter of Levi Frisbie,) Mrs. James ]Mclntyre,
Joshua, Susan and Kate Sniith, jind Nathaniel Allen
and wife, the last two received by letter. In the Bap-
tist church the preacher was Elder John S. Carter,
from Addison, Yt., v/ho was the first settled pastor of
the* church. The year behne, the Bajitist church had
voted to build a parsonage, and this year a committee
w;(s ajtpointed t*) carry on the work, Edward Cole, Dia-
dorns Holcomb and Enos Loveland. Thus it is ju-ob-
ahh' tliNt at this time the lunise was bailt which served
a- the Baptist parsonage until about twenty tive years
HL.'o. It stands on Main street and is now owned by
Mrs. Marian Sherman. Both churches still held jniblic
x-rvict* in the school honst-.
r.20 IIJSTOHY OF WKSTl'ORT
The year of 1820 was welcoinod by a New Year's Bull
"at Esquire Newell's," which moans at the house of
Elienezor Newell, who was a Justice of tlie Peace, auJ
who lived ou PleasaDt street. That it was quite a
social eveut is shown by the fact tluit a nuiuber of
chuvcl^ members were present, their action sternly
deprecated by tlie ascetic New England reli^iiious sen-
timent,- with its horror of dancinr;, which was rapidly
risiufT with the iuereaseof church influence in the place.
Settlers were coining in all the time from the New
England states. In 1S20 John Hodgkins came from
Chai-leston, N. H., and settled ou the Boqiiet iu tlie
southeast corner of Lewis, just across the town line.
His wife was Diautha Prouty, and they had six chil-
dren, John F., Lavina, Kichard M., Edmond O.. Lewis
AV., and Samuel. Edmond O. Ilodgkius was deacf^u
and trustee of the Congregational church at Wadhams
for years. Three of his sons, Samuel H., Frank, and
Ezra K., are now prominent business men in West-
port, Samuel H. Hodgkins being the present supervisrir.
There is a reminder of the social condition of the
times in the fact that in 1820 Commodore Barron shot
Commodore Decatur in a duel. Duelling was still sa-
credly observed among ofaoers of the army and navy,
and was not unknown among civilians.
Town uveetiu£: held iu the school house.
(Jideon tlaminond, Supervisor.
Ebene/.er Newel!, Town clerk.
Tmiuthy Sbehu.m. .lobii Luixlell and Calvin Augier. As-
nessors.
- iiiSTORy OF WKSTi'oirr 321
Levi Frisbie, Collector.
Charles Hatch and Caleb P. Cole, Poor Ma<^ters.
Joc-l Burrows, Jesse Bramaa and Charles Fisher, High-
way Commissioners.
Edos l^veland. Charles B. Hatch and Ira Henderson,
School Commissioners.
Leman Bradley, Piatt R. Halstead and Asa Lyon, School
Inspectors.
Levi Frisbie, Walter W. Kellogg, Piatt R. Halstead. Dl-
adorus Hulcomb and Rufus Ashley, Constables.
Fence Viewers. — Joe! Burrows, Jesse Brarnan, Charles
Hatch, James \V. Coll. Joseph Stacy, Piatt Sheldon, Enos
Loveland and Samuel Storrs.
Overseers of High ways. -Joseph Ormsby. Timothy Shel-
don, Crosby Mclveuzie. Asa Loveland, Caleb P. Cole,
Asabel Lyon, Luther Augier, Daniel Wright, Norton
Noble. Lewis Sawyer, Jacob Mathews. John i.obdell. Ab-
uer Fish, Abrahan) Nichols, John Chandler, Henry Stone,
John Pine.
Charles B. Hatch, Pound Keeper.
Voted that, the Overseers of the Poor be authorized to
hire a House for theii' Poor the Ensuing year.
In the road surveys there is mentioned a road which
ran '"from Braman's to Winslow's Mills." Road district
No. 5 is extended ''south on the state road to the south
line of Halstead 's lot."
lo 1821 our Member of Asscml^ly was Ebeiiezer
Douglass of Ticouderoga, who afterward came to West-
]>ort. Onr riopresentative iu Congress was again Ezra
C. Gross.
This year wo Lave the first positive iuformatiou in
regard to a post ofhce here, though it is not likely thafc
this was its first establishment. In those days of high
postage and small po])ulatiou, the duties of a postmas-
ter were by no means arduous. It was very common
for the country store keeper to receive the appointmeL-l
hence there is reason to believe tliat diaries Hatch
first lield this office. Tradition also suggests the name
3J2 ^ HISTORY OF WE ST POUT
of Samuel Cook. This paper, foniid ;unou<^ the elTecls
of Mr. Peter Ferris, settles the point, for this year at
least, of the man who carried the mail.
"I, John Ferris, Jr., of the town of Westport and
state of New York, do swear that I will faithfully per-
form all the duties required of me, and abstain from
everything forbidden by the law in relation to the es-
tablishment of Post Oitices and Post Pioads within the
United States.
"I do solemnly swear that 1 will support the Consti-
tution of the United States.
Signed John Feuris, Jii.
Sworn and subscribed before me this )
day of January, 1821. f
DiADOKUS HOLCOMB,
Justice of the Pence.
John Ferris lived at the turn of the road as you <^o
down to the ferry at Barber's Point, and 1 have no
doubt that he brought the mail on horseback froii)
Vergeunes, crossing on this ferr}'.
March 3, 1821, Piatt Pvogers Halstead received the
appointment of Commissioner of Deeds, and was also
made Loan Commissioner.
In 1821 Jason Dunster came to the village at the
Falls, then called Braman's Mills. Tlie Dunsters couje
of the very best American ancestry, being descended
directly from that Henry Dunster who came from Eng-
land to Massachusetts in 1G40, and was immedi.itely
chosen as the first President of Harvard College, then
in its very beginnings. President Dunster was selecteil
IIJSTOh'y OF ]VKSTJ'0/rr S2:i
for tlie place ou accouut of bisjj;reat leaniiii;,' and piety,
am] lie filled it with credit for twelve years. The fam-
ily remained in Cambridge for four generations. J<nia-
tlian, you nicest son of President Dunster, was a farmer,
and bis v/ife's name was Abigail Eliot. Their oldest
s'.ui, Heur}, married IMartlia llussell. daughter of Jason
Kusscll, and his youngest son was named Jason, Jason
married Rebecca Cutter, and to him descended the old
Dunster homestead in Cambridge, in which he lived for
eighteen years, moving to Mason, New Hampshire, in
170'.). His youngest son was another Jason, born 1768,
and he was. a soldier in the Kevolutiou, serving a part
of the time on the Hudson river. His wife was Polly
Meriam, and he died in 1828, and was buried at Mason.
The third Jason, oldest sou of the second Jason, was
the out; who came to Westport in 1821, a young man of
twenty-seven. He bad served in the war of 1812, as an
Ensign, being' stationed at Portsmouth, N. H. His
sword is still preserved in his sou's family. His lirst
wife was Azul)ah Felt, (of the same family as Abitha
Felt, wife of Jesse Braman,) and they were accompa-
nied to Westport by her father, Aaron Felt. After the
deatli of his lirst wife, Jason Dunster married Hannah
Hardy. His daughter Louise married Morris Sher-
man, and was the mother of Ellery and of Carroll Sher-
man. His sou Charles Cai-r(.»ll married Rachel Benson,
and has tluf-e children living, Clara Louise, Elsie, now
Mrs. Frank Hodgkins, and Mar}'.
Tow;; inei.-tiii<t "iu the seuool bouse at North West Dav. "',
:r>4 ^ insToh'V OF WKsrroirr
Gideou lianimoiid. vSunorvisor.
Ebe.ut'Zt.'i- Newell, Town Clerk.
Johu Lotxiell, Joel iUirrou^His atul Piatt R. Elulsteud,
Assessors.
Levi Frisbie. Collector.
John Lobdeli and Coleo P. Cole, Poor .Masters.
NortoD Noble, Charles B. Hatch and Charles Fisher,
Hi^fhway Conimissiouers.
Charles B. Hatch, Piatt K. Halsteadaud Ira Hendersou,
School Commissioners.
BoutoQ Lobdeli, .Asahel Lyon a'ld Diadorus PT'>]comb.
School Inspectors.
Levi Frisbie and Philo Kingsley, Constables.
Charles Hatch, Pound Keeper.
Fence Viewers. — Timothy Sheldon, Tillioghast Cole,
Harrj' Stone, Enos Loveland, Daniel \Vric,'ht and JoIiq
Lobdeli.
Overseers of Highways. — Ralph Walton. Charles Wood,
James Coll, Jesse More, Caleb I'. Cole, Barnabas My rick,
Elijah Ani^'ier, Alexander Frazier, Moses Felt. Oliver H.
Barrett. John Hauiels, 3rd, John Kini]:sley. Johnson Hill,
Joshua Smith, Gideon Hammond, Harry Stune, Washing-
ton Lee, Jolin Chamberlain.
Voted to raise §1U1,I fur the support of the poor. ?25 to
repair the '•bridge at Johu Shearman's" and •■double the
the sum allowed bv the state for the suppoi't of common
schools. "
Survey of a •"road beginning at a Hemlock Tree standing
on tbe Lake .shore near the old Wharf in Chauncey Bar-
ker's Bay, " and .running '•to the Ijake road a fevr rods'
north of the house now occupied by John Ferris, Jun.
.-Vlso a road beginning at the south wharf of the Widow
Huldah Barber, and intersecting the main road 'opposite
of the -•."d Widow Barber's horse shed." Also aRoad lead-
ing from •'Wadham's and Braman's Forge" 15 Braynard's
wid Mitehel's Forge.
In October of this year occurred the deatli rrnd fu-
ueral of General Daniel ^Y right, the latter conducted
with military honor.s. Only eight years had passed
since the battle of Plattsburgh, and it still seemed to
these people but an event of \esterday. The annual
HISTORY OF WKSTPOirr :i2r>
militia traiuiiigs ha<l incvt^ased steadily iu pomp auil
pircuinstanco, aud there is uo doubt that this occasion
Avas truly au imposiug ceremony. Ofticors and men at-
tended from the three counties of the Fortieth Brigade,
and all that horses, uniforms, musket and pistol, sword
and cockade, muffled drum, crape and mourning ban-
ners could do, was done, to render the funeral of Gen-
eral "Wright a sight tol'O remfnibered. The procession
came down the hills from the General's farm, into the
village antl up Pleasant street to the cemetery, headed
by the Brigadier-General of the Fortieth Brigade, who
was at that time Luman Wadhams.
General Wadharas may not have moved his family
from Lewis to Westport at this time, but he must have
bought property at the Falls before this, as we find ref-
erence iu the road surveys to "Wadham's and Braraan's
Forge," and he came here to live soon after. The name
of ^A^ldllams is probably the oldest to be found iu con-
nection with Westport history. It dates back .to the
days of King Edward I., iu merry old England. The
family was an honorable as well as an ancient one, "and
became allied to many great and noble houses," says
Prince in his "Worthies of Devon." The most illus-
trious names in the line are those of Nicholas Wadham
and Dorothy his wife, who together founded Wadham
College at Oxford iu 1009. The first of the name to
come to America was John Wadham, who came from
Somersetshire, England, to Wethersfield, Connecticut,
in 1G50. For three generations the family sojourned
in Wetherstield, and it seems to have been iu this |)e-
■rjh- nisTORY OF wr.srroRT
rioJ that the letter "s" was added to the name. Fov
two geiioratious they were in Goshen, Oonuectieut, and
it was in Gosheu that Luman Wadhams, the first of tlie
name in ^Ycstport, was born, in 1782. He went to Char-
lotte, Vt., on the eastern shore of Lake Ohamplaiu,
about 1800, and there he married a widow, Luc}- Pi in-
die, born Bostwick. (The tirst of her family to come
to America was Ebenezer 13ostwick, from Cheshire, in
1068.) In 1809 Luman Wadhams came from Vermont
to Lewis, and soon after 18'i2 he was living at the place
soon afterward called Wadhams Mills. The mill prop-
erty there remained in the Wadhams famih* for over
fort}- years.
General Luman Wadhams aud Lucy his wife had five
children :
\. Lucy Alvira married Dr. Dau Stiles Wright as his
second wife. Dr. Wright was practicing mediciue
ID Westport before ISol. He does not seem to nave
oeen at ati related to General Daniel Wrignt, since lie was
tne second s;,m of P'benezer and Lucrelia (Wood) Wright,
of Shorebam, V't. His first wifes name was EieutheriU.
aud she died in Westport, and was buried in the cemetery
here. Nut long before her death, in 1831, the house in
which tbey were living, on Pleasant street, (che site is
now occupied by M r. Henry Richards" house,; was burned,
and ^Irs. \Vrigbt v.as curried out, while her only cliiKI, a
-babyboy, was thrown from an upper window. xVfter bis
second marriage Dr. Wright removed to Whiteball, ana
was there sent to bi.)th branches of the ^State Legislature.
Dr. V\ right and Lucy his wife bad six children, one of
whom, Lleulheria Farnham Wrigut, married Wiliett Kug-
er.-., sou of Ed Rogers of Whallousburgh. aud her daugh-
ter. Kate Rogers, (now Mrs. Edgar G. U'orden, Lewi:,towu.
Aioutaua.) taugbt'school in \Vt\stport for several years.
2. Jan« Ana Wadhams married ticnjamin Welis of Up-
per Jay. X. Y.
3. William Luman Wadhams, (universally known as
'"Deacon U'udhams, ") married Emeline I^. Cole, d;iugli.ter
HISTORY or WEST PORT 327
of Samuel and rri-and-daiifirhter of Edward Cole of North-
west Bay; also <:rand-d'dU(jbter of Diodorus Holcoinb, M.
D. They had thirteen thildren, of whom four died in in-
fancy.
William married Lucinda Skinner,
I;iiman married Elizabeth S. Staynor, in San Francisco.
Children, Ida, Edward, Vir^jrinia, Georc^e. Bertha.
Lucy Bostwiek. married Herbert L. Cady. Children.
William Lewis, Frank Blish, Frederick Wadbams, Her-
bert Aldeu.
Frara-os Durchard, nnrried l.^t, Georj'c D. Davenport,
2nd, Ebeuezer J. Oriusbee, Governor of V^'ermonfc.
Harriet Weeks, married Dr. George T. Stevens, now of
New York. Children, Francos Virginia, Charles Wad-
bams, Geoi-frina Wadbams.
Samuel Dallas married, in Elmira, Gcorgina O^deu.
Child, Hairy Albion.
Albion Varette, married in Annapolis, Caroline Hender-
son. Children, William Henderson, Albion James, Eliza-
beth Wadbams.
Frederick Eugene, married Emma, dauirhter of Dr. p].
D. Jones of Albany, Child, Elizabeth Jones.
Emeline Elizabeth, married John E. Burton of Albany.
Children. Mary Landon, John Wadbams.
4. Aiirara E. Wadbams married Sophia Southard, of
Essex, and resided at Wadbams Mills. Children: Edmund
Abraham, born 1833, died at Blaine, Wash., 1900; several
times mayor of the city. Pitt Edi^ar, born 1836, killed at
Chancellors viile. Va., May 3, 1863.
5. Edtjar Prindle Wadbams, the only one of the family
to embrace the Roman Catholic faith, became the first
Bishop of Ogdensburirti.
Few of the Wadhaiii.s family seem to have been boru
to obscurity, ami that one of them who has most en-
gaged public atteutioii is perhaps Bishop Wadhams.
Tills has come {)artly from essv'intiul and dominant
characteristics oi the man himself, uud partly from the
fact of his chauj^o of fuith from Protestantism to thak
form of beUef maintained by Eoman Catholics. As a
rule, in our couutiy, Catholics are boru and not made.
32S' 11 [STORY OF WEST r OUT
!incl this is no truer anywliere tlian in the town of
Avhicli tliis is a history. The writer cannot reoa]l aii-
otlior single instance of such a chan_;:fe in belief. On
this accoiDit, if for no other reason, oroat interest has
alwiiys been manifested in this man. I do not know-
that there is any complete l^iogcHjiliy of his \\U\ l>ut
there is an interestinn; little book called "lleminiseencts
of Bishop "Wadhatus" written hy Father Wahvorlli of
Albany, who made the change from the Protestant
Episcopal to the Roman Cathc-lic ohnreh at nearly the
same time as did "\Vadh;ims. In this book we find tluit
"NVadhams was born in Lewis in 1S17 ; entered Middlu-
bury College in 183-1 and graduated with honors in J83S,
Though brought up a Presbyterian, he became an Epis-
copalian while in Middlebury, of so earnest and de-
voted a type that he was accustomed to lift his hat
upon passing the church. There was no settled rector
and no regular service, and Wadhams and a friend
of his often conducted the service them/;elves, one
playing the organ while the other read the service.
In 1843 "Wadhams received deacon's order in
tlie Protestant Episco})al Church, and was sta-
tioned in Essex county, his principal station being in
Ticonderoga, Mith occasional services in Port Henry
aijd Wadhams Mills. It was during this period of his
diaconate tiiat the remarkable attempt to found a mon-
astery at Wadhams Mills was made. It sounds wild
4nd romantic enough, but nothing could show more
clearly that his final entrance into the Catholic church
was but a natural setpience to the whole bent of his
justohy of wEsrroirr :i-2u
luiucl from Li^; first entrance iuto the Eiiiseopul ftiUl.
Ill Walworth's book is L;iven a picture of "the iu(ni-
iistery atWadhitms Mills," which is none other than the
okl \Yadhams house in tlje vilhiqe, next to Payne's
store, uow occupied by Mrs. Joel Whitney. The house
is ^iveu that name because durinp; the wiuter of 18-1-1-5
Wadhams and Walworth lived there, keepin^i; up as far
as p)0ssible the rules and discipline of a monastic life.
^Irs. Wadhams, then a widow, lived in the house also,
but the young men occupied three rooms by themselves
and lived their own life, doing their own cooking, and
fasting according to rules adopted by them. Walworth
says: "Wadh<a.ms' favorite idea was to educate boys
of the ueigliborhood, training them specially to a relig-
ious life which should serve finally to stock our con-
vent with good monks. xV handful of boys who gath-
ered with other children on Sundays in the school-
house for catechism seemed to atTord a nucleus which
might afterward develop into a novitiate. We actually
laid the foundations and Imilt up the sides of a convent
building. It was nothiug, indeed, but a log-house and
never received a roof, for the winter was intensely cold,
and the ensuing S}>ring ojjened with events which sent
nje into the Catholic church and to Europe, leaving
notliiug of the convent but roofless logs and a commu-
nity of one. But I mistake ; Wadhams had a Cana-
<lian pony which, in lionor of pious service to be there-
after rendered, we named lU)iu and a cow which for
similar reasons we named B<nit('. Our log-house clois-
ter was built on a lovely spot under the shelter of a hill
:iuj IHSTf'RV OF WFSTPoUT
v>-]iich lionmlod a f.irni iuheiitfd \)\ V.'u'.lluuns from his
i'ullier. The t'lM'iii coiitiiint'd a fuio stvt'tcli of woodl.-iutl
ou the smith, while t'le greater part fro:ii east to west
was opt^n and oultivr.ted iiehl, the. half of whicli, high
ai'd terraced., looked down upon a lower meadow ];>ud
v.hich extended on a perfect level to a fine stream bor-
dering the farm on the east. Beyond the brook and
ah)n- its e 11,^^ ran tht; mad from Wadliciuis Mills to
Lfwis. There w;<s ujneh debate beftire we fixed on thii
site of our convent. A tuu; barn stood already built uw
the natural terrace on the south side, while under tlie
terrace at the ncath t)nK\ was ;i in;(.;j;nifieent spring of
the purc^st water. '^Vhere should the convent be, near
the barn or near the sj)rinp:; ? Every present convenience
lay on the sid;^ of thc^ liarn, and horse and cow were
actual possessions. But our hopes looked briy;ht!y for
the future. Vvliat would a <.';reat con^injunity of hood.^il
cenoVutt's' do wiihoul a holy well near l)y V So we luid
the foundatiojis of the futtire pile on the edge of the
tcrract: just above the s})ring. \Ve ilid not cous-ult
either Beni or Bonte."
W;dw(jrth says later: "St. Mary's Monastery in the
X'Uth Wood.s h.i 1 turned out to be a vision. Tiiat
vi>.ion hi'-d vanished, and in its ])lace was left ni^thing
lint a rootless log house on the "\V;Ldhams farm." This
means that both the young men had decided that they
could not find what they wanted in the E[)iscopal
Church, and therefore sought farther in thc-Bioman
Catholic Church. \A';)ludrth "went over" in 1815, and
immediately brought all ids powers of persuasion t-.'
lUSTonv OF WKsrroirr •■t-n
beur upon liis fiieml. He writes from a convent iit St.
Trond, Belgium, Februurv ITtli, ISIG, "All! if the
qnotidam abbot of Wculharns Mills were only here,
where the discipline of the religious life is found in all
its wisdom, vigor, attractiveness, he would weep and
hiugh by turns with me at our little 'monkery' among
tiie hills of Essex."
Before the year was out Edgar Wadhams had also
joined the Ptoraau Catholic Church, beirg received by
the Sulpicians of St. Mary's Seminary at Baltimore.
He was ordained a priest at St. Mary's Bro-Cathedral,
Albany, in 1850, an.l resid-jd in that city until he be-
canie Bishop of Ogdeusburgh in 1872. He died in 1891.
It will be remembered that the time at which Edgar
Wadhams made the momentous change from one faith
to another was also the period of the Oxford movement
in England, v»hen the hearts of n!en wei-e so stirred by
the questions of the divine authority of the church, the
validity of the sacraments and of priest's orders, and
many other things. It was at this time that John
Henr}' Newman changed his allegiance from the Church
of England to that of Borne, and so distinguished an
example may well have had its intlueuce upon the mind
^)f Wadhams, as it had upon that of many otliers, both
in England anW in America. The hymn Lux lh'niii)i(i,
uhich is such a favorite with both Protestants and
Catholics, was written by Newman at the time of his
inenttdstruggle in regard to his duty.
••J>t';id. kindly liglit, amid tlji,- (mrii-Lrling uli'Dm,
Bead tloa nie uu;
.^c^2 iiiSTOiiY OF wKsrroirr
The ni;.^lit is uurk, uud I aui faf from home.
Lead thou mo ou;
]\eei> thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me."
To Newman the one step amid the eucirclinf^ gloom
seemed that into tlie bosom of the Catholic Church, and
thns it also seemed to Wadhams.
This sketch lias carried us far beyond our chronolog-
ical order, but it is believed that it will be more satis-
factory than presenting the successive incidents in the
dates at which the}' occurred.
In the summer of 18"22 Major McNeil, who had been
on the statr ol General Wright in the war of 1812, came
to Wostport, and lived on Pleasant street. His wife,
Hannah, (a sister of Asahei Havens,) presented a letter
of recommendation to the Baptist church in September,
and was received into membership. Four years after-
ward the church gave her a similar letter, "to the
church at Peru," u[H)u the removal of the family from
Westport.
1823.
Town Meeting held at the school bouse at X. W. Bay.
Gideon Hammond. Supervisor.
Samuel Cook, Jan., Town Clerk.
Caleb P. Cole. Enos Loveland and Calvin Angier. As-
sessors.
Levi Frisbie, Collector.
Caleb P Cole anu Josej)h Stacy, Poor Masters.
Piatt Sheldon, George B. Reynolds and Jesse Bramau.
ilighwav Commissioners.
Charles B. Hatch. Ira Henderson and Piatt R. ILdstead,
School Commissioners.
John Charidler, Caleb C. Barnes and William S. McLeod,
Sebooi IiisiK.'ctors.
niSTOHY OF V.SETPORT :iS3
Philo Kinf^slev, Levi Fri-sbie and Samuel ChaudlGr, Con-
stal)!os.
Folice Vieu-ers. — Plutt Stieldou, Asa Loveland, Abaer
Fisli aud Joseph u5 Merriam.
Charles Hatch, Pound Keeper.
Overseers of Ilif^^hwavs. — Joseph Ornisbec, Titnothv
Siuldon. Samuel Coll, Tilliurdvast Cole, Asahel Lyon, Jo-
scpbus Merriam, Georife SturtovaDl, Amos J^oclc, Samuel
Deuton, Elijah Shermao, Samuel Sloi^rs, Abner Fish, Wil-
liam Deutou, Gideou ITammot.d. Harrv Stone. Peter Tar-
bell.
There is no year more meoiorable in the bistory of
AVestport than this, whio.li saw the completion of the
Clianiplain canal. It was begun June 10, 1818, and
thiishecl to V.'aterford, Nov. 28, 1822, so that it was pos-
t-iblc for boats to pass froia the Hudson to Lake Cham-
plain before whiter. Thus was this long portage, which
bad bad such power over the designs of men since
boats floated on lake or river, conquered and annulled,
ai)d the Ch.am plain valley stretched out to the very sea-
board. The caual is sixty-four miles long, and follows
ilie route v.liieh Bargoytie took at the advice of Skene,
to the utter undoing of his army aud himself.
Now opeued a new era of commerce and immigration.
l''or the first titne merchandise could be brought from
the metropolis directly to our v.diarves, aud travelers
wlio ventured into the wide, wide world ^s•ere not nec-
L's,v;ii-ily cut oir from homo and kindred by barriers
which required more than ordinary resolution to over-
<-onu'. Naturally, a rapid increase of immigration took
place, and one of tlie first additions was the family of
Sewull Cutting.
The first Anieriean Uiicestor of this Cuttinir familv
.V.7J iiLsrnin' of wksttort
Avas JAicharil, who eaiuo from Ipswich, Euf^land, to ]^>os-
tou, Mass., in 183-1. The lino is tiacod thvoui^h tliree
Zechariahs to Jonas, who serv«nl in the liovoluticu as
private and corporal in a New Hampshire regiment.
His son Jonas, of AYeatliersfield, Yt, Colonel of the
2-Jth U. 8. Infantry in the war of 18.12, was the father
of Scwall, who was born at Berlin, ^^dass., Aug. 16, 1780,
and died at We>t[.ort, April 21, 1855. He married at
Windsor, Yt., Aug. 3, 1806, Mary, daughter of William
and Mary (Xewellj Hunter, and sister of Mrs. Asa
Aikens and of \Yilliain Guy Hunter. They moved fnjuj
Windsor to New York city in 1821, and in 1823, at-
tracted by the now possibilities of life on Lake Cham-
plain, the position of which as a highway from Canada,
was much talked of at the opening of the caual, moved
to Westport. Dr. Sewall Sylvester Cutting, sou of
Sewall, has left an account of the journey which gives
an interesting sketch (.f tlie' mode of travel at that time,
"We left New York about November first, ascending
the Hudson on a sloop bound for Troy. My father's
merchandise was here transferred to two canal boats,
and on one of these boats ujy oldest brother, William,
and myself took })assage for Whiteliall. my father and
mother a.nd the younger children going thither by
stage. At Whitehall we took the sloop Suratoyt', and
sailing at 8 P. M., with' a strong south wind, reached our
destination at Westport, Nov. 13, 1823, at two o'clock
in the moi'ning. Here my father opened a store, and
having hail the misfortune to lose the Iniilding which
he had previously engaged, lie was obliged, in orilev to
'uisToi:y OF va:srr()jrr :ri.i
(^.•t the only unoccupied store iu the village, to take
with it, ami keep, a liotol of which it was a part. Now
once more I had an (,'p[>ortnii'ty to attend school— the
distiict school of the villay;e— and I am hound to say
it wus'a good school though certairdy it would now be
regarded as exceedingly primitive." Dr. Cutting's
nituinscript continues with an account of hi>^ school days
at. the boarding school of lUisf, Batch, at Elizabeth-
town, the ne.xt year. ?Ie himself taught district school
in Westporc in after days. He obtained his further ed-
ucation at V>'a.terville College and at the University of
Vermont, receiving his de\gree of Doctor of Di%iniry
from the latter institution in 1S59. He entered the
i'aptist ministry, preaching about ten years, and then
devoted hiniself to literary work. He was editor of
the Xew Ynrl- JUrnnler, of the Wnfchnin,, „,)(] Hi^fler/or
of Boston, and of the n/"o7/7// Cliristwn Ihrlar. }le
was made Professor of Rtjctoric and History in the Uni-
v.'i.->ity of Rochester in ISoo. Dr. Cutting's collected
writings, both prose and poetry, would uuake a valuaiile
book. His long poem on ''Lake Champlain," recited
before the alutnni of his cla.-;s iu lUnlington, June 2l5,
1S77, has both strength and grace, and the tender tribute
to the little town wljere his motlu'r lies iniried is very
touching. Wli.ata pity that he did not write a liistory
of tlie place. He had tin- true anti(|uaria.n zeal and the
exhaustless interest which turns the real into the ideal.
One of his contiilmtious to local histoiy wa:^ "The
Creuesis of i\'>' Ibiekboavd,"' so often quoted.
J b-. Cutiing's llr.-5t v.iic was Ev;'liua Chailotte, daagh-
I>
s.io . iiisTORY OF wcsrroRT
ter of Cliirdner Stow, tlien of Kceseville, afterwaul of
Troy, and AttoDiey-Geiicral of tlie State b}' appoint-
lueDt of Gov. Seymour. The issue of this marriage was
Gardner Stow Cuttiug, who graduated at Rochester in
1858, and studied law in the office of his grandfather
in Troy. Dr. Cutting's second wife was Elizabeth,
widow of Thomas Waterman, and daughter of Hugh
II. Browi'., who was grandson of Gov, Elisha Brown of
Rhode Island. One son by this marriage, Mr. Churcli-
ill Hunter Cutting, has for a number of years spent his
summers at Westport witli his family.
To return to the elder Sewall Cutting, stepping otf
the sloop Sarafor/rt in Northwest Bay that dark Novem-
ber morning. The family whom he brought with him
became important parts of the comnamity life as they
grew up. All were connected with the Baptist church
in its most prosperous days, and pla3'ed leading parts
in its history. Mr. and Mrs. Sewall Cutting brought
letters from a Baptist church in New York when they
eauu-. Mo.st of the Cuttings were singers, and for years
the family formed a large part of the choir. People fa-
miliar with tlie workings of a large and active coun-
try church will recognize the fact that leadership in the
ehoir brought with it social leadership as well William
J. and Franklin H. Cutting (sons of Sewall) were in
Vmsiness together in \Vestport for years. William J.
Cutting built the large brick house on the hill at the
head of Liberty street, with the porch suggestive of the
Parthenon at Athens, which shows above the village
from the lake. His dau;rhters were Marv, now Mrs.
jjiSTOi?v OF WEsrroirr 337
F. H. Pago, Helen, ikjw ]\rrs. Kiiigslaiid of Burlington,
and Lucy, nou- Mrs. Jacob Hiiids of Yergenues. His
wife was Minerva Holcomb, daughter of Dr. Diodorus.
Franklin H. Cutting lived in the Hatch house, since
owned by F. H. Page and G. C. Spencer. He married
Ann H. Titrany, at Southbridge, Mass., in ISIO. Other
sons of Sev. all Cutting were Wallace and Uan.
Sewall Catting the elder married again after the
death of his first wife a Miss Burchard, and her children
were Lucv and John Tyler Cutting. The latter after-
ward went to California, and became a successful mer-
chant in San Francisco. He entered the army, served
throughout the Civil war, and was for nine years con-
nected with the National Guard of California as lieu-
tenant, major, colonel and brigadier-General. He also
went to the Fifty-second Congress as member from
California.
Up to this time thero had been but one post-ofYice in
the to\^■n, and that at Northwest Bay, but uow the vil-
lage at the falls on the Boquet had reached the size and
importance which demanded, and received, a post-office
of its own. When its official title came to be decided,
the name of Wadham's Mills was chosen, after the name
of the u;ill-owner, who had come into the place the
previous year. The document which establishes this
postoffice, ap])ointing Gen. Lnmau Wadhams as the first
postmaster, is dated February 25, 1823, and is now in
the possession of his, grand-daughter, Mrs. E. J. Orms-
bee, of Brandon, Yt.
:i.3S " HI STORY OF n'USTPOnr
1^24.
Towij MeC'tiui; held in the Sclunil bouse.
Gideon Hainrnond, iSij[)rTvisoi-.
Sariiuol Cook, Jun.. Town Clerk.
Enos Lovelaad, Calviu Angier, Piatt R. Halstead, As-
sessors.
L(?vi I'^risbie. Colleeto!-.
Caleb P. Cole aud John Lobdell, Overseers of the Poor.
Piatt Sheldon, Geni-;:e }->. Keyuolds and Ji-sse Branian,
Hi^rhwa V Ci>inrnissioiiers.
Piatt R.' Uuistead,- David B. McNeil and Charles B.
Hatch. School Coniriiissioners.
Diadorus Holcnnib, AsahelLy*)n and William S. .McLcod.
School Inspectors.
Levi Frisbie, Philo Kin^^s]ey and John Smith, Jr., Con-
stables.
John Hatch Low, Pound Master.
Fence X'iewurs. — Piatt Sheldon, Asa L >veland. Abner
Fish, Jasephus >Terriara.
Overseers of Hicrhways.--Ralph Walt.ni, Charles Wood,
Jame.s W. Coll, Willard Frisbie, Diadvjru-; Holcomb, Eb- -
nezer Scisch^. Elijih Williams, John Whitnev. Samuel
Denton. Gideon Hammond, Henrv Stone, Juhu Pine. Jacob
Matthews, Chester Taylor.
In th.^ road surveys we find two "privato roads" laid
out. Oa.' ran from "the shore of Lake Ciiatii[ilaiii to
the road which lea. Is ti^ 'Maria Coats' ore bed lot." It
b?gan "at a slake staudiiip; uear the ore bed wharf,"
and ended at a "'stake and stones stand in-T; twenty-five
links north of the division, line between Piatt Rogers'
ore bed patent, and Lot No. 100 in the Iron ore tract."
The othor seenis to join this one, and mentions "the
house in wljich Lhaz^r H. Rannev nov/ lives," and
"the roail leading from Ahijah Clu;aver's (ue bed to hi.s
wharf."
Another survey was of -'a road h'adin-' from Fi->her's
HISTORY OF WESrrORT 339
Mills by A. Duntou's and the Bartlett settlement to
the town of Moriah,"
At this time the only public building in the village
was Uie school house v.'hicli stood ou Main street, on
the south side of the bridge. Its threshold must have
been well worn, for it was crossed by the bare feet
of the children five days and a half out of every week,
by the heavy cowliide boot.c of the men for town meet-
ings, general elections and district school meetings,
and every Sunday felt the; tread of men, women and
(diildreu, attending divine soivice at two long sessions,
morning and afternoon. It will be a mistake for the
reader to allow a feeling of pity to rise in his breast for
the people subjected to so much ecclesiastical labor. It
was the one relaxation of a hard working, thoughtful,
self-denying population, starved as to mind and soul
ou remote farms, in many cases, through the week, and
looking hungrily forward t(^ the opportunity of sitting
ou a rough board seat for an hour, listening to a ser-
mon which gave positive ansv.-er to every question
then asked by the mind of man. Do not, of all things,
pity the women, for then came their one chance to ex-
change notes (Ml important subjects with their neigh-
bors during the intermission between services, while
the lunches were l)eing eaten'. Even those who lived
in the village often brouglit lunch with them, in order
to enjoy the company of tlie noon Iiour. And so we
understand when we are told that "everybody went to
meeting then," whether the preacher was the settled
Uiiuister of the- Daptists, coming out of the ]")a)-sonage
340 HIS TO R Y 0 F ]VES TPO R T
ajittle way down the street, the Motliodist circuit rLler,
or Father Comstock with his Congregational doctrines,
riding in on horseback from the house of some friend
where he had been as welcome as a Bible and a daily
newspaper rolled into f)ne.
But what about the children? Rough board seats
and sermons are poor support for growing bones. They
were sometimes allow-.n! to play outside, roaming over
the fields and down to the lake shore, and making high
holiday. Any one who knows boys can imagine sun-
dry drawbiicks to this ])lan, connected perhaps with
stray cats and apple orchards, and it soon l)ecame evi-
dent that somtthing must be done. Then it was that
the plan originated of a Sunday school, and the person
who first jiut it in operation in Westport was one Sam-
uel Cook, who had joined the Baptist church in 181 G,
The Bajjtists formed the leading denomination at that
time, and for some years alter, and consequently the
first Sunday school was a T^aptist one. Mr. Cook's
services seem to have been entirely self-oll'ered, which
njakes it all the more creditable to him, and we are told
that the teaching and management fell upon him and
his family. The Cooks seem to have gone away in
1828, as in that year Pielief, Eunice and Harriet Cook
received letters of dismission. But the Sunday school
thus begun was never abandoned. The church in 1S2(>
took a tormal vote, assuming the respi)nsil)ility of the
work, and in 1830 elected three superintendents, Crid--
eon Hammond, John Chandler and John Pine.
This vear, or not louir before it, Frederick T. Howard
' HISTORY OF WJCSJTORT 341
came from Ycrmout with bis family, aud settled on the
back road, on the place so long occupied by his son
Frederick B. Howard. Other sous were Mansfield, who
boupjht the Gideou Hammond place, where his sou
Pinsli now lives : Dorr, who built the large brick house
on the road to T\^idhams, now occupied by his widow ;
Orrin, who built the white house near the railroad
crossing know-n so many years as "Howard's;" aud
Hosea, who lived on the middle road, where his son
Fred now lives.
18:^5.
Town mcetiu" held in the school house at N. "W. I5ay.
Gideon Ilummoud, Supervisor.
Samuel Cook, Jan., Town Clerk.
Edus Lovcluad, Charles Hatch and John Lobdull. r\s-
sessors.
Euos Loveland aud John Lobdell, Poor blasters.
Charles Fisher, Caleb P. Cole and Samuel Stcirrs,. Hif^h-
wav Commissioners.
Charles B. Hatch, Piatt R. Halstead aud Diadovus Hol-
cotnb, School Commissioners.
Levi Frisbie. Philo Kingaley aud. Jason Duustcr, Con-
stables.
Piatt Sheldon, Asa Lovcland aud Abuer Fish, Fence
Viewers.
John H. r.,o\v. Pound Ma.ster.
Overscei's of Hi,t,'h ways.— Joshua R. Harris, Oschar
Wood. Crosbie McKeuzie, Hezekiah Barber, Caleb I*. Cule.
Piatt R. Halstead, Newton Haze. Calvin Angrier, Willard
Church, Elijah Storrs, Joel Finney, John Daniels. 3rd,
John Kintrsley, Vine T. Bingham, Enos Lovcland, Gideon
Hammond, John Nicholds, Frederick Howard, Jacob
Mathews, Chcstoi'- Taylor.
In the road surveys we find the first mention of the
road which we should now say led from Payne's wharf
to the Fair jrioumls, but as neither one of t]\c^>^ termiui
:i-J-J IIISTOIiy OF WKSTPOirr
was exi.-^teiit in 18'25, it is described as '-Itegiuuing at
the north east corLer of a piece of land lately purchased
bj Barnabass Myrick and Is a Henderson of Bontou Lob-
dell," and running "to the center of the road near Dia-
dorus Holconib's." There was also a road laid out
"leading from Northwest Bay to Whal )n's Mill."
In this year John Qnincy Adams was inaugurated,
the Erie canal was opened, and Lafayette laid the c>r-
ner stone of the university building in Burlington, Yt.
Another thing remeuiboi-ed in t!ie Cliarnplain vallev is
that this was a remarhalily early spring, the ice being
out of the lake on the eighteenth of March.
At about this time vrere built tAvo of the large brick
houses in the village. Judge H;itch built on Main
street, just north of the present Library lawn, the
house now owned, by Mr. Daniel F. Payne, and in the
northei-n part of {lie village', on the lake sliore, the
house now owned by ^Ir. Lriiuk Alh'n was built by
Ebeuezer Douglass. Both are of brick made in West-
})ort brickyards, I am told, and both have the aiassive
chimneys with deep fire-places on two floors, which
were still considered necessary in an elegant house,
notwithstanding tlie increasing use of stoves. These
great chimneys, containing many tons of brick, were
built before work was begun on the outside of the house,
whether it was to be of wood or brick, and the masons
who laid them must needs be skilled workmen.
The Douglass house was begun the year before, and
tinished this summer, but Ebenezer Douglass did not
come until 1825, his business here being superintemled
HISTORY OF WESl'J'Oirr 343
bv Lis oldest son, Tliomus, a young niau not lon<]j
married to Joanna "Winans. Tlie Douglasses came
originally from Connecticut, but Ebeuozor Douglass had
been in Tieonderoga before 1812, as is shown by the
fact that lie was supervisor of Tieonderoga in that year,
holding the ollice until ISll. Ho was again eh;oted in
181G, and again in 1S2-1, 1S25 and 1826. Then he re-
moved to ^Vestport, remaining about twenty years. He
had been one of the leading merchants of Tieonderoga,
in partnership witli Judge Isaac Kellogg until after
the war of 1812, and then v.ith Joseph AYeed in the
Upper Tillage. In Westport his business partner was
his son "William, and firm name E. & AY. Douglass.
They built the northern wliarf, and the brick store
a.bove it, owned boats, made potash, and carried on
extensive dealings in lumber.
Ebeiiozcr Doui/hiss had a large family of children. His
see. ID d son, \V-ilKani. married a Miss Arlluu' of Ticonde-
vo'jw, and was grundlatber to i\Jiss Ada G. Douglass. His
daughter ftauijau married Dr. Abiaihar lAdlard, for many
yt-ai's our leading physician. Orher childreu of Ebenezer
"l)ou<j;lass were ^lary. Lemuel, John, Prentice, and Be-
najah. afterward supervisor of the town.
That the village at Northwest Bay was growing in
importance is shown by all tliese things. Lumber from
the forests and iron from the forges on the rivers ciune
in to our wharves, and was shipped on canal boats and
schooners, \sdn!e meichandise from the soi\th, Albany
or New Yorh, antl ore from the Moriah mines was un-
loaded. r.;anabas Myrick built a foi'go at the Falls
this vear, and the next he and Luman \Yadhams built
:U4
niSTORV OF WKSTrORT
tlieir-ri.t mill there, making the place one of active
pro>j)erity.
This vear the schooner Trn<j was lost with all
on board, her master, Jacob Halstead, a vonnc. man r,f
t-vventy-flve, his young brother, George, thirteen years
old, Jacob Pardee, their step-brother, and two others
whose names I never heard. The schooner went on her
first trip for ore to Port Hsnry, one day in November
and was returning loaded, when she met a gale in which
she foundered, somewhere above Barber's Point. It is
thought that the oie v. as not pro])erlv secured fn.rn
shifting in the hold, and when the schooner careened
m the gale, the ore shifted and nkde it impossible for
her to ])e righted. Not one, master or crew, ever came
b:.ck alive, and from this tragedy arose the story which
Henry Holcomb Joved to tell, and whicli I have always
Iieard in my own family, of the mother and sisters sit-
ting at hon.e in the Halstead house, listening throu-^h
the storm for the .sound of home-coming footsteps as
tlie night wore on. Suddenly they heard the boys on
the doorsteps, stamping off the snow in the entry as
they were wont to do before coming in. The women
sprang to the door and opened it, stepped to the outer
door and looked down upon the light carpet of untrod-
den snow which lay before it, and then crept tremblin.^
back to the fireMde, knowing that son and brothers
would never sit with them again within its light. The
father stayed on the wharf all night, and searchm- par-
ties went along the shore all the next dav, and in the
Hfteruoon, wieckage which told the tale was picked up
insroRY OF wKSTroRr :u.^
ill Coil's hi\y. My grand mot her was a girl of sixteen
at the time, and the midnight '\vatch, and the ^varniug
of tliose unearthly footsteps, were things wliicli she al-
uays grew pale to remember. This is tlie only gliost
story I have ever known told and believed among onr
t()\vuspeo}>le, and. I novt r sns]>octod that it was known
outside my own family until the old Halste;id house,
tlien the michlle {lovtion of the Wo^tport Inn. was torn
down in 1898, and some of the older people standing by
ti> see it done, recalled the story and told it exactly as
my mother first told it to mo.
Settlers were continually coming in through all these
} ears, and in 1825 Leonard 7'aylor came from New
Hampshire and settled near Brainard's Forge. This
part of the town was largely peojtled from New Hamp-
sl]ire, as George and Orrin Sikiniier, who had come
sr)ine tinje before this^ the Pierces and tlic Hodgkiuses,
;dl came from that state.
Oliver Boutwoll also came from Xew Hampshire in
this year, and settled near AVadham's Mills. He had a
hirge family of children, one of whom, Lueinda, born
in New Hampshire iu 1820, marrie'l first Randall Stone,
.Liid after his death l)ecamethe second wife of Cyrenus
J'l. Payne. Her children were Edna Stone, afterward
Airs. Daniel Carey and Ijucinda and Cornelia Payne,
the former now Mrs. John HotTnagle, of this place.
l.S0(5.
Town MeetiiiLT lieUi in the .selioi! house at North West
l:,sv.
iiisri)i:y (if w Lsrruur
(,'bafK-.-. I'.aU-li. SLijx-rvUof. ' _.
Sanuicl Co'jk. Jiui.. Tuu-n (/ii>rk.
Diadorus iloicoait;. (iidrou iiaimnnLul. Jesst' IJramuii.
Assessors.
L^'vi Frisbif. Collector.
Enos LovclaLul uQd JoLin LoImIcII. Pnor Mastors.
' fJariiabas .Myrick. Jnlui Iviiiirsii'y. l^lijab Storrs, HiLfh-
wav Commissiouei's.
Diadorus H(:>lcotiib. Ira It(Mj.ifrson. Asaliel Lyou. Scbuul
CoriimissioDt'rs.
Diadorus S. Ho'c.M.!.. ChaiN. 15. flateb. Piatt K. lial-
stead, Schi>ul Inspectors.
Levi I''risbi(\ Pialo KiuLfsUy, I 'aulinus Finney. Consta
bles.
Enos LovHJand. (;id.'(>u Hanun.Kid. Jobn T.obdell, F-M.ee
Vie '.vers.
Charles II Hateb. Found Masb-r.
Overseers ol' i]i;/liuays. -Aiiial Mitcbeli, Piatt Sheldon,
Ale.xaudei- Sjiencr. Cyrus Richards, F>benezer Pulsivcr.-
Diadorus Flok-omb. Elijah Auijier. George W. Sturlevant.
Moses Felt, .Scuuuel Dentou. Sanuiol A. \\'ii2;-htmaa, Jdbu
Lobdell. Johnsun Hill, Nathan Wallace. Gideon Hammond.
John F. Alexander. Piillander rtr.-,..ins, Seth Lewis, Jonas
Walker. Joseph Farnuni.
A new road ieadin- •fnun ( loner;. 1 A'^'adbanis to V>'il-
lard Hartwolls." .Vnothcr road hef^ius 'vm tlic cast
.side of lilack riv.'r,"" and we Hiul mention of "a road
ruuiiiiip- tVom S>uitli\Vfirs Fnr^-e southerly towarils
Steefs Saw ?>fill/" and the "old road leadiu'^ from
o
Ha:is/."s F.u-j^'e easterly t<. X. \\\ H.iy."
Tlie luetitioii of these foij^es reminds us that the iron
business was now Ij.-coiuiiiu; more and more im[)()rt;>nt.
"Haa.s/.s Foii^'e" was at "the Kin^dnm," in Eli/abeth-
town, hi.i;h up ( n the jllodc livev, a.tid Southwell's was
lower d<j\vii near the [thice, 1 Itelieve, where the turn-
pike now i-rosses the river.
This vear roacl di^tri-t N'o. I') i- fcuiued, to "M.iei'ii!
i//STn/:y or WKSTPO/rr 347
.-it William P. Mt-n-riarn's, inn north by \Valkpr and
Crarfu'ld's Mill, ami east to the town line by Darins
]Merriarn's." This wonKl scoin as though Darins
Meiriam liad before this moved from wliere he first
settled, ou the western slope of Coon mountain, pi-oba-
biy not lou'j^ after the war of 1^'J2, to the jilace where
li^^ Vmilt his house )"i])on the river bank. The ^leiriams
ea'iie originrdly from l\fassnch.n-^''"'tts, but Pariu? ?>b'r-
riani came to Westport from Essex, and his wife,
JLuseba Potter, came from Swanton, Yt. His children
^\ere "Wijiiam l*otter, Tjovis;i. Philetns ]')arins, Enos,
Adney, Delia, Sarah and Jolm. They seen) all to have
^one west, soontji- or later, except AMlliam and l^liiletus
who carried on an extensive lumber and iron business
for many years under the firm name of SV. P. A" P. D.
-NbMriam. William married Caroline Barnard and had
two sons and two daughters. He built the cottage
on the river Vciid: at Aferriain's F()rge, still ov.ned bv
hi< daughter, ^frs. AVliitney. Philetns ^ff-rriam lived
on tlie other side of the river, not far from the town
Hue, but went west before his deatli.
I do not know tlie exact connection between the fam-
ily of Darius Meriiam and that of Williaui B. Meriiam,
(commonly know?) as Deacon Merriam,) whose name
al<o occurs in this yeai-'s records as a resident of West-
I'ort. He removed to Essex in 1854. His wife's name
was Iiebecca Cook Wiiitney. and it was his son, Gen.
^Villiam L. Merriam, who carried on the iron works in
Lewis A daughter of Gen. Mcrri.im married James
\N'. Str.K-or L.uis. ;,nd her da-i-hter mo'vi-d D. F.
iS4S
iiisrui:y uf wEsrroirr
riiyue of \V;i<lliaiiJ.s :\Iill.',. C^l. -Icliii L. IMciriam, sun
uf Ofii. ^'eiriaui, uiimicJ Miiliala, (lau;4iit<;r of Joseph
it. DcI>a.U(), aii'l afLfi- lnu' Joath in JS.V7 he iciiioveJ
to St. ]*aul, Minn., ivpiuseuttjd his a(l()[)ttM] ^tate in
Cougivs^, and was Sl>.\iktM- of the House, iu ISTO. His
son. t!ie IL.t;. VVilliani ^\\\^\\ .Aleiriani, hMiu iu 1S41» at
W'adhauis Mills, has served two tenns as Governor of
Minnesota, lias rei)ve>.tni IahI his .statti in Ctiii^fess, and
is now Uirecti.tr of the Census, appointment of I'resi-
'dent ]\IeKinley.
Ijj Ma}- of iS'i',') Jjevi riiueo oauie from Xew Hanj[i-
shire, and he and his Ldiih.lren settled on farms near
the north line, iu Lewis, I'jssex and Westjiort. His
sons were l^evi, Jr., Samuel, William, Charles, Curlis,
and Harvey, and his daughters r\lary, Maiia and Bet-
sey. Tlie latter married Captain Samuel Anderson, one
of the lake captains, and hved on the lake shore farm
lunv (j\vn-d hy IMr. ]Je;id of ])oston. j'ledr daughter
Aujanda married William Williams, [jevi Pierce, Jr..
was the father of Wallace, and Samuel of ^Martin Tierce-.
Harvey Pierce came to Westp<'»rt as a clerl< in Hatchs
stort', afterward huying an interest in the Itnsiuess, and
later was in paitnersjdp with ]''ianklin Cutting. He
married as hi>, si-cond wife [Margaret .Vngier. and their
children were Sarah, wh.o died wiien a young girl;
Frank, who marri'Ml Mav Wvman of Crown i'oint, and
has three children, Howard. Eloise, and In-atrice ; and
Charles, wlio is married and has one child. Frank and
Clnirles Pierce are now paitutMs iu business iu Iowa.
.Mav o*. iS-Jo, I'.arnaJ'a- M vrick and C-n. W.idiiams
TIISrnRY OF WKSrrORT lUU
liuilt a largo grist nil] at ^Yadlla)ns, \\\q linest yei seeii
in town. It>^ brick v.alls still form a part i)f the
present mill.
TtMVLi Moetin<j bold \\\ tbo sebool bousp at Nortb West
]J;.y.
(iuleun HanHijOud. Supervisor.
Samuel Cook, Juii., Towu Clerk.
Diadorus Holconib. Jesse Bi-amun and Alexander Speu-
cer. Assessors.
Levi Frisbie, Collector.
Jobu Lobdell and p]aos Lovelaiid, J'oor Masters.
JoliD Kiuixsley. Klijab Newell, E]>hraiia Stiles, Hitrbway
Coiiimissiouers.
William Frisbie, Timolby Sbelclon, Levi Frisbie. Calvin
'Wiiley, Constaoles.
Asubel LvoQ, Diadorus Hdlooaib, Ira Henderson. Sebool
Ciiinmissioners.
Jason Dunsti>r, Elisba Garfield, Diadorus S. Holcoinl).
Si-!it)ol Inspectors.
Caleb P. Cole. Jolin Lobdell aiul Ca,lvin An^-ier. Fence
\'ie\vors.
Flijab Newell. Pound Master.
Overseers of .Hicjb ways.— AdIliI Mitcbell, Piatt SbeldiHi.
Pi-ter Tarbell. Cyrus Ricbards, Caleb P. Cole. Asabel
Lvon. Lutber An^^ier. Willard Cbureb. Moses Felt. Joel
l-'inney, Jobn Danit^ls, 3rd, Jobn Lobdell, Harvey Sniitb.
Aurum Nicbols, Willard Carpenter. Harry Stone. AVasb-
iiiijtun L^»e. Eli Ferris. Myron Cole. James Marsball. War-
ren JLirper.
■'MyrieK's for^'e and shop"' are mentioned in tbe de-
si-riptious of the road districts.
This year a new school district was formed, and "tin?
I'rick school hrnise'" was built on the road f)pened in
1S2.'), running from the ])on'j;lass wharf westward until
it joins rioasant street. For Tny own convenience I
inti-nd to i-all tld-^ stii-.'t '"i )oiii.la-~s .-ti-eol" in frdur.'.
c*.5'>
iiisTnnv or ]\j:sTj'i/irr
jind SI) s;ivc tlif ciicuiiiiociitiou of a trdiou-. ilescri{«ti'Mi.
DoubtK-ss i\\>' LonmlaiT Ix-tv.eeii tli;; two aistlicts v.as
the hvuhy across Mill brook. Tliis brick scliool h..u>..
c.ime al'ttMwarJ to be nsel for tlir c:lass m>>«,'t-
inj^s and piHacliiiiL!; services of ilie M. I'l cliurcli. !\Ir.
S. WLcatou Cole wrote me iu LS'.19 : "i \w.ll remember
the oKl bii^tk school housf in tlu- iiortli of the vilia^.\
whtn-e 1 b.'nati ieariiii),!^ mv A. 15. C"s sevtiity-two years
a<:jo. Tlit.' ue.\t yi-ar 1 b.-i^'aii l)asiiiess, [lickiliL,' \viuti"i-
i^-rfHii lii'ri'ifs ill the hcmloi-k forests north of the town,
ami cxcliaii<4iij^ them for cauilv with IM win ami Ch;irh,->
fiatcl). Mv hither was killel in Sept.,'mb..r of 38-2-.
and the next year I went to li\e with my uncles, Cah'i)
ami l\iii! C'wle. where I remained twelve years, workiiJLj
on the farm ami att»'n'lii>L:; scliool in tin; south i>art of
the vill;i;j,e."" Mr. Cole's fatlier was killed by beiiiL;
thrown fi'o!)! an ox-cart on a roun;h road, tlje wlic t
pa.^sin^ o\tM- his (diest and >o injuring iinn that lie difd.
This i!;ivfs us a ,L;hm[>se of the charactt^r t)f tho roads of
th.it day, and the fact that he u as taking a grist to
Wudhams to be ground go.'s to show that the grist
mills at X.trthwest j>ay were ]>robai)lv not running. Jl
is tiaiH thai the usefulness of thest-earlv giist nulls w.is
but sliort-liv(nl.
'J'he lii.--toiv of FrtM^ !Masoiirv in ii'sscx county began
with the e.t.ddishmcnt td' J^ss.'X Lo.lge in the villag.' ^>i
Jv^se-x in bSOT. in iSLS the Valley I.odge at Fdi/abrtii-
town rei-eivf'd a (dnirter. Its tlrst olHt-ers were E/r.t ( ',
Gr.^ss, \V. M.; Luman Wadhan:.^, S. W.; and John
l;arn.-\. .). W. 'rni> is th.. lod^e u ho.,., records
« *
were carried uway in llie frtsliet of 1830. ;iu(l wliicu
(.loubtless had S'une AVe.st[>ort ihph as raenib^-rs. Dia-
ilorns Holcorab and Ira Henderson were ^Fasons, I^avid
r.. McNeil belouii;ed to tlie' Esstx Lodgu, and the uame
of Joel Finney is also fonud n]>on itr^ records. Joseph
CliII is said to have tier!) a M.isou. Meetings of tlie
order "»vere held from time to time \\\ West^iort, in a
room of the house sino' ]:uouii as the .Hichard.s Ilonse,
on Pleasant street. There Thomas. Douglass wa-S
initiated into the mysteries of the order in the year
1S"2.'), as his daughter, now 3Irs. James A. Allen, dis-
tinctly remembers hearing him say. The only record
which 1 have been fortunate enougli to tJnd is that
given in the List P'ssex Count v History, on }»age 323 :
"Ro3-al Arc)] Masonry in the county began, it would
seem, with tlie establishment of A\'estport Chapter No.
127. at West[)ort, February 27, 1S27, with Josepli Cook,
Hi-h Priest, OirisPier, King, ami C;dvin Willey, Scribe,
After making re})oi-ts to the Grand Chapter for two years
it disappears from the records." None of the names
gisen are those of Westpnjrt njen. It is possible that
the strong Auti-Musonic excitenieut which followed the
disappearance of Morgan in lS2r. may have ojierated
against the ]jrosperous continuance of this order at
this time. The present lodge was established in 1852.
This year was the "first great revival" of the churches,
and the ^Af^i camp meetiiig. The cam{> m(>etiug was
held on the little woo-le,! point on the north shore of the
bay, on the borders of tl>e "'Si^eo f.arm," named fron\
thi' family who livcTl >)n t!i • hill ah.-ve ii. Here a plat-
. •■>'>- Ills rum' or wi:sri'(,'irr
forui was built uuder tlir trees for tlio pveuL-hers, wh)
t^xhortfd a cojigr-'i^iition sr;i,lt;>l ou Ioul; [,l:iiiks whi.-h
were siij. ported by sl,>iirs and blocks, with uo ro,,f
overhead save the leafy bi-auehe.s of the ti'Oes. The
camp ineeiin.L' hehUor ..n.' or two weeks, aud i^ee-jili.
came from far am] near, from the Yermotit shore, from
Lewis aiiil Kssex, from iJarber's Point aud Wadham's
Mills, put ap teats aud bark roofed shanties for shelter.
;iud lived there ou tfie lake shore the whole time, listen-
ing to sernjons and to the testimonies of converts ail
day lo)i_^% with the cnlminarion ot the day's excitenjent
invariably looked for at t;ie evenin- sei-vice, lighted 1/v
the olare ot great tlamin- t-nches of pitch piue. Th-
preachers were <;f all .lenominations, called iu alonu
both shoies of the l;ike. ;tnd their labors were rewafl^'-l
with a large number of converts. The rec.jrds of our
village churches show a -r.'at increase in mmd^er-iii;;
in this and the next year, and both must have so:)u
doubled their ]iniul)ers.
Thnre is doubtless a close connection between this
revival and the fae-t that in this year the Congregational
church was first orgaui/e^l at Wadhaiu's Mills. If then-
IkhI lieeu a Congregational society there before thi<
time, it was not in a tloniishing condition, and tier.-
are no traces of it left. Mv eiV >rts to obtain the earlv
records of this chnrcli have been unavailing, the pres-
ent clerk having in his ])ossessiot] nothing older than
the book begijining in 18U. Smith's historv of IS-^o
gives the nam.s of the original niemliers of 18-27 <>
J.iuuan \\"a liiams, Calvui U'd.y, .fe-^s.; Ihamaii, Ahv-
HISTORY or ]vj:sTJ'0/rr .^...v
aiider Whituoy uiul Tlioiuas Iladlcy, the cl-iti^ of ihe
lii.sl looetiiig March 20, 18'.^7, auJ the phice the school
liou.se "near tlio re:-i(leuce of Jesse Brainaii."
Besides the increase in nienibership, thei-e is shown
in the Baptist records a mounting zeal in the rnattei- of
church discipliue. Serious business it was felt to be,
and seriously- tliey did if, appoi)iting solemn commit-
tees ti) visit delinquents, and taking action u])on the
reports rendered at the next church meeting, but to one
of the j/rescnt generation a smile seems never far away
when reading these deliberations, in which a neglect to
attend church was dealt with as weightily as more
flagrant offences. Poor Jos'epli Stacey, waited upon by
one of these cfMumittees, confessed t ) working on board
his bojit on Sunday, instead of dressing up and going
to church, and so we know that one of tiie white sails
in the bay belonged to him.
Dr. Cutting lurs left an account of this revival which
shows in perfection the quiet, sincere dignity of his own
faith, which never descended t;) small anxieties about
the inconsistencies of others.
■']ti lS'26-27 occuried a revival in Westport. It was
r<.unarkable in character. Beginning in the early au-
tumn of LS2(), in a very general seriousness in the com-
munity, it continued through the winter. ]Mauy were
baptised, myself on the last Sabbath in ^[ay, by the
liev. Jereuiy H. Dwyer, })a,^tol• of the Baptist churcli
in thiit village. I can hardly tell how I became more
deeply interested in religion. 1 think my own state
of mind an 1 fcidiu'' were in h.trinonv from the tirst
.v.T-/ iiisTdin' ()/■' wrs'r/'n/rr
^vitl^ the >;i'nv, itii;- illto!■o^^t■ \vl)ifli porvarlc-il tliO coinmn-
iiity. Tj(in,i; afterwards I ItMrDtul lliaf on vetiiiiii^ from
tlio water, ^J ]■. Dwyur reiiiarkeJ, '1 luuo uaptised a
niiiiister to-Jay.' "
18--^.-r5. ' ■
Town Meeting in the school house.
Gideon FIcMiifriund, Supr-rvisor. ''
Saoiuel Coo!:. .Tun., Town Clerk.
Je.sso Brauiau. Piatt R. IJaUtcad, Ephraita Stiles, As-
sessors.
Levi Frisbie. Collector.
Jason Dunster, Diadorus Hulcomb, Ahioson Barber,
IIi;^Mi wav ConKnissioniM's.
Levi Fnsiiie. William Frisbio. Ca.lvii] Willry. Constal-.les.
Flisiia Gartieid. \Vm. I>. Merriatn, Alt-xaadcr Sptmct-r,
Sehuol Conunissioucrs.
Diadorus S. tTolcoiul). Asahel Lyon. Piatt R. Halstead,
Srhool Inspectors.
JoliU Greeley, Isaac Stone. Caleb P. Colo, t-'caee Mewers.
Xewtoa l-Iavs, JAa.ind .Master.
Overseers ;.[ I fi.L'li wjivs.- Kalph AValte.n. Levi Coll.
L'niou C(->il. Ti!liugba.st Cole, Ciileb P. Cole, Willard Car-
penter. John Greehyy. Jr., Myron Cole, Eioa^ar Pauney.
Sainnei Cliandlcr. Geore"c W. S( urtevant, Lemuel Wbiuiey,
Jjucius Lobdeil. Oliver 11. Larrett. Samuel A. WiL'btruan,
John Kingsley. JobasDu Plill. Lyman Smith. Gideon Ham-
mond, Henry Stime, Frederick llDwui'd. Arehey Dunton,
lOlijah Shernuui. Jonas P. Walker. Abi-am (Jreeley, Geo.
Skinner, Henajah r.)ou>.:'lass.
This year we find mention of another mill on BLick
river, — Ohauncy Fuller's, Ix-siiJes "Steel's, Douf^lass'p.
A- Smith and Hatcii's."' The bridrro in the villaj^e of
Xcjrtiiwest Bay which has been so lonp; rofe^rred to as
that one "west of ILdstead's old iield," now bee;ins to
he called the on»' "near ]Myri(d;'.>^ P(it;\s]t," and for the
lirst time is uj.-ntion.'d Dou-he-s's wh.irf.
IIJSTOHY OF WESTl'Oirr 36^
In 18'2S Giv.le('ii ll;imni>iiul was ouo ui u ccuuiijittet;
of tlilfe apjn.)ii.t<xl to d.'cid*' lipoli the qiie.-^tlnii of biiikl-
iujl a countv lioa.so for the; c;ue of tbe poor of the-
<'oanty. 'J'lit- house was l)uilt in 18o3, and from tliat
year until 1842 he siirveJ as County Suporintondent of
tlie Poor.
This year, ov the one Ijcfove, John and Ahrani Gree-
ley came into town, as is proved \)\ their both beinj^
appointed ovt'Vseers of hi^diways. Tliey were sons of
John Greeley, who was l)orn iu 1759, and fouglit as u
boy of sixteen at the Inittle of Bunker Hill He was a
h;df brother of the father of Horace Greeley, the fa-
mous jt)ui-nalist. He removed from Now Hampshi»-e
to ;r^aiato;:;a county, and from that place to- J>rooktield,
in Essex, before the war of 1812, and he died in 1852,
liaviui^ lived ninety-three years. His son John fouoht
iu tlu' war >•!' ]>^]2, and was wounded in the shouldt-i'
at the battle of riattsbarjj;h, nftfi-ward reeeiviue, a })eu-
sion."
TowTi nifetiii','' in the school house
(.iiih'on tlamruoiid. Supeivisor.
.John [hitL-h f/.w. Clerk-.
A!ex;m(U-t' S|ii'ni-er, iMadorus Holcomb. .Irssr nranian.
Assessors.
•He was the father of James, and of Ruth, who married Henry Frisbie. Abram
Greeley was the father of John J. Greeley, now a resident of Westport. Three
daug-htcrs of the first John Grceiey ma -ried and lived in Westport. N.-incy mar-
ried William Olds, and their sons were Wallace and Marshall. Mary ni.arried
William Viall, and their children werejohu G., Asa, Mrs. Orlando Sayre, after-
ward Mrs. W hitney, and the first Mrs. F. H. Page. Phebe married Elijah ".Vill
iams, and their sons were SamueJ aiidjossjih, boatmen on the I.-ike for nia;iy year*
.inii A, fc-lijah, one r.f our dru^j^^Uts.
.•>'•:/.• N/srn/n' of wKsrrcnn'
John CLatKller, Collrctpf.
John Lobdnll an. I Cw'nrL^e V,. Rfvnnlds. Poor Musters.
Alansou Barber. Asah.4 Lyon. John Kinusie-y. Hi<j:[iwuy
Cotnmis.siourv.-..
Cbuflcs |{at(h. Diadorus S. Holcoinb. DaT'iaubas Myrick,
School Comniissioncfs.
Asiihol Lyon, Caleb C. Eafnes, Joseph R. Delano.Sch.ool
] nsp^>L'lofs.
B. P. Douylass. Norris McKinncy. Siimnor Whitinj;-.
l-"encp \'iev/ers
William Vri-^bif. Pelpr Tarb;-'!. John Chandier, Joseph
Ifardy, John \). Loodell, Constables.
Xeu'toQ Bays, Pound Master.
Overseers ot llie Ili^-hwavs.— Joseph Bicralov.-. Elihu H.
Cole, Charles Fisher. Johu'Ferris, Caleb P. Cole. John H.
Low, John Greeley. Moses Bull. Calvin Angier. Hetivv
fJoyee, Bildad Royce. Lemuel Vx'hituey, Benjuuiin Hardy.
Auijustiis Hill, Vine T. Bin<^'hani. Samuel Storrs. Leonard
Ware, Auram Xiehols. I. udrew Frisbie. Jonathan Niehols.
Ne!s(rn Low, Solomon Stockwell. Setb Lewis. Darius Mer-
riam, James Marshall. Ijucius Lobdell. Nathaniel Flinkley.
Voted .-r^ldi.) for the support of the poor.
Town meotinp; adjournetl to tlie house ot Klijah New-
ell, whioh stood on I'ieasant street. Affer lioldiug tlie
town meetings for twelve vi'avs in tlie all-accommrx;!;!-
ting school liou>,..', the custinii wa.-^- adopted of holding
tlietn in some inn, and maintained until LSG:}, when the
Armory was first used.
We notice the name of Norris McKenny, who was a
tailor, and built the house just m-rth of the Thiptist
church, burned in ]S7(), which answ<-rs to the Baptist
parsoaa^e of to-d ly. \X wis at:'refward own-*! bv Dm
Kent, l)y llalph Love-land and by Victor Spencer.
In 18'2'.> wa.s jutl'lished the first map of Essex county,
by David H. Burr, with statistics from the latest cen-
sus given :'t til.' Ih.ttom. >lr'V W^•stpol■t i- ..Toditel
IIISTOHY OF WFSTl'Oirr 3r,7
w itli haviiiL,' al)ont oue-fifth of tlio Liiid iiupn^voil. Real
.'■otiite is valued at 686,423, ami pergonal piopurty at
sl,400. There- were 075 males aiul G-17 females in the
populatioD, 1G7 svibject to nnlitia duty, and 287 enti-
tled to vote at elections. There were eleven school
districts iu tow ii, scliool had been ke|)t an a\era;.!:e of
six months in tlie ye;ir, and the amount of ])uV>lic money
received was eiOl.lG. 121 children had been tau-ht in
the scliools the past year, and there were reported 3-10
children between the ages of 5 and 15. As for live
stock, there were 1550 neat cattle, 237 horses, and 3501
sheep. The most remarkable figures are those of the
number of yards cf cloth of domestic manufacture.
woven by the women on hand looms. 3282 yards of
fulled cloth, 1015 yards of woolen cloth not failed, and
2G59 yards of cotton and linen. Think of those women,
with their large families to caie for, standing at tiie
loom (lay aft'-^r day, and we-iving the blankets and
siieets for the be(.ls, and the lintiu for the table-cloths,
and clothing f'U- themselves and for their husbands and
children.. And they spun the thread before they wove
it, remember, and carded the wool before that, although
the two cai-ding machines in town were by this time re-
lieving them of some of this ])ait of the toilsonie [)ro-
cess. And this Ix^mespun, home woven wurk was often
very beautiful, as pieces of the linen still preserved will
show. Only one giisL mill is reported, whicli njust
have been tliat oi ^lyrick and Wadhams at the Fails,
and this seems to prove that Hatch's two grist mills
at Xoilhwest i'av and the one* :it < 'oil's P.av were no
.V.)^'
iiismin' nr \r/:s77'fj/rr
lonrjer rm.niug. Also, (i,o,v is but oik- "iron works"
n'portfd, wliich must t.ioaii >ryrifk's fnyy,' at the Falls,
and would indicate that all the f.v.-gcs on the ])lack
river \v( re now idl,.. ();„. t)'ip liainmer is irport.-d,
eleven saw mills, three rulliu^ mills, two eardin,^ ma-
chines, no dist, I!,., w, tour asheries and on.' oifmill.
What an oil mill in Westport can have been 1 cannot
i!na-in... TU-ir wpie two post otTices then, as now, West-
port and Wudham's .Mills.
Jo.SL'ph It. I),.Lano, whoso uame is now fn-^t mention. -d
iu the to^^n leecuds, came from Tieonderoa,., and open, 'd
a store and inn at Wadham's Mills. H,, was a son of
Nathan DeLauo, -Jnd I.iiutenant in Capt. Mackenzie's
cavalrv company in the war of 181-2, an<] brother of
Thoinas DeLano of Ti. Wo soon find liis nan)e -iven
a.s the incunilu'nt of many town ollices, and in 1^:41 ],,.
was elected tlie first supervisor from the villa-e of
Wu.lhams. ills lirst wih, was a Kiniptoi.. of Ti" and
their dau-hter Maliala n:arrn-d Col. John L. .Aferriam.
afterward Governor of .^;inne^ota. His second wife
\\as IteJief Law. and their children were : Electa, mar-
ried Walter 3Ienill of Tort Henrv ; Albertine,' married
Duncan TlKunpson, now lives in Washin-tou ; Rusii.
drowned in the J^„,4net when a boy, and'\vntoinette!
n)arried Isaac Wood of Wadhams.
Town nieetin- li-UI at t!,e Inn of l-:iijah Xeweli
(•idcon {Jainmonil. Supervisor.
JoIhi II r,,,u-. Town Clerk.
iiisroRY OF wh'STJ'oirr 3on
Pkitt R. IJiastead, Cbarles Fisher and JuLni Kin^'sk'V.
AssfssDrs.
Williaai Frisbio. Collecior.
Geoi't^'c B. RevDold.s aud l^arnabas ]\Iyi'ii.-k. OverscfM-.s
of the Ptx^r.
Hezekiah Jvjrber. Nc.vtun Hays. Calvia Angiei-, High-
way Coaimissiouei's.
Ira Heiidei'son. Joel A Calhoun, Charles Hatch. School
Couimissiouers.
Diadorus S. Ikilcoiiib, Joseph K. DeLano, Asahel I^yor],
School lns[)ector.-^
Wm Frisbie. Jostfph Hardv and Asahel Lvoa, Cousta-
bles.
Xev.'tou Hayes. Pound Master.
No fence viewers, and the first Justices of the Peace
mentioned. The entry in the town records is certified
to by three Justices. Diadorus Holconib, Jesse Bramau
and Alexander Spencer.
Overseers ot Hi<,'h\vays. or Pathniaslers — Apollos Wil-
lian»s, Jr.. Levi Coll. Jr.. Charles Fisher. Asahel Havens,
Caleb \\ Cole. Asahel Lyon. Elijah Williams. Horace Hol-
comb, William Olds, Samuel Chandler, James Fortune,
Francis Hardy, Jason Dunstcr. Au;_n.istus Hill. Samuel A.
"Wiy-htman. John T,(.)bdell. Johnson Hill. Abraham Nichols.
Andrew Fiisaie. Henry Stone. James McConle}', Archey
l)unton, Elijah Sherman, Ejihiain'. Colburu, James Mar-
shall. Lucins Lobdell, Nathaniel Hinckley. Leonard Ware.
Jonathan Cady.
We find mentioned ''Colburu's Mill," one belonging
to Chester Taylor, and one to Garfield and Walker.
A new road district i.s made, No. 38, "beginning at
the lane west of Xatlian Wallis's, tlieu running north
and east V)y James Pollard's, Erastus Loveland's, Leon-
ard Ware's and Eldad Kellogg's, until it intersects t'.h;
Court Hoase road." Still "Sliei'man's brook," which
was the I'laytiioiul bi'ook, called in its U[-»por course the
Stacy brook.
Th ■ docado of the thirties saw tl:e height of the luui-
:i<>0' HISTORY OF WEsrr Of rr
ber busiucss. Myriek ;ind W.'ulhams, tlie Douglasses
uDd the IT.-itclie.s ii\\\Q t'niployrnent to large numbers of
iiieu in tlie forests, aiul upon the road.s, liauliug logs to
the njills and the "d(H.-k sticks" and the sawed lumber
to the wharves. All this brought custom to the stores
which were kept by Hatch and Douglass- and Cutting.
and by Myriek and AYadhams at the Falls, and the
boal-lo.ids of ineichandise from Nt-w York began to
contain more and more articles of luxury. By this tinie
there wei-e no log houses left in the village of North-
west Bay, though many were still .standing on outlying
farms, and some of the best houses in town were built
before 1835. Most of the brick liouses belong to this
period, and the heavy-timbered fi'ame houses, like the
one now owned by Dr. Shattuck,on Washington street.
The Ba[)tist chui-ch was built this year, the first church
edifice iu town, on the hill at the toj) of Washington
.street, opjiosite the house now occupied by Ylr. C;ise
Howard. The latter place was then owned by Piatt
Piogers Halstead, who kept a bachelor's establishment,
with a middle-aged houskee[)er, always known as "Aunt
Meliuda," though she was no relative, and his sister Car-
oline, then a girl of twtMity-one. She beg:in keeping a
diary the tirst of July, and on the ninth she writes,
"Yesterday our meeting house was raised. Everything
went on in good order. A prayer was made at the
commencement by Ehlcr Isaac Sawyer. \Ye witnessed
the good ctfect.s ()f teuiporance, as no ardent spirits was
drank on the grmind." It was indeed a novelty toha\e
ui) liipnn- at a "raising," and this incident shows that
HISTOin' OF ]VI:sT!'OI:T ar,]
toinpt''r.'Mice f\.s a priitci])l(\ ;iiil1 not simply as a niatler
of individual choice, was be,<:^inuiiv.'; to be advauced.
Tliat it was literally but a begiuniiig could not be sliown
more conclusively tbau by the following; iucideut, re-
lated by Dr. S. S. Cutting twenty years after, wlicu
he was a Professor in lioehester University.
"My earliest recollection of the Pi(n-. Isaac Sawyer is
associated witli an incident illustrative of his charac-
ter. It was, I think, iu the summer of 1S27, before the
tender of the cup had ceased to be an acknowledged
juirt of the hospitalities of a Cliristian family. The
minister of our church,— the Baptist cluirch in \Yest-
port, N. Y., — had resigned, and Mr. Sawyer had been
invited to visit the place with a view to the pjastoral
otlice. He, with tlie retiring minister, was a guest at
niy father's house, butweeii the services of the Sabl)ath
day. I, as the boy on whom tliat duty naturalh" de-
^ol^■ed, V, as directed to bear to our lieverend visitors
the refreshment of brandy and water, wiLh sugar at-
tached; and this 1 did without a thought to that mo-
ment of any connection between conscience and drink-
ing, except that conscience forbade intemperate drink-
ing. ^Vith the air of ;3. true gentleman, quietly but
friendly, Mr. Sawyer declined the cup. "It is a point
of conscience with m(%" said the already venerable man;
"'I have united with some of my brethren iu an obliga-
tion to abstain entirely." '"A ptunt of conscience I"
thought the astonished boy, — and he never forgot the
lesson, or ceaseel to honour the minister of reli>j:ion
from wl.MS- lij.s tln.s.- few words \y.u\ !;ill.'U. Thank
iiisriiCY OF WFsrroirr
llfnvt'U, thr cu]) rc'iiifd to ho jiiuong the liospitnlities
<jf tl);it Ijotne.
Stories are toKl, aiul triic ones too, of tlie uuiiistr.-r
L-allin-- ;it .-^onu' ]).>usr \\\\w.h was tompoi arily destitiup
of spirits, a/ia of thf siD.ill boy of tlie f;uui!y l.eiuK
^^l)UJ^'^'I.■^l out of the pantry wimlow and seiU iu j^^reat
secrecy for a new supply, all hopini; that tlip iniuistf-r
niiiiht not suspect, as hc^ drank uitli them the soci.il
i:;1ass, tiiat it way not drawn frouj their own celhir. Mr.
J. S. Boy]it(jn tells a story of a house inJay, in the wall
of whieli the owner injbt-dded a bottle of whiskv, and
then bricked it over, saying, "Jt shall never be .-aid ..f
me that I was at any time discovered without liquo]- in
the house." I never heard of such extreme ujeasures
bein^' taken in this town to escape the social disgrace
of the times, but all these things show the condition of
]>iiblic opinion.
Elder Isaac -Sawyer was called to }»reaeh in April i.f
l8-2-^, autl was pastor of tln^ chiuvdi six years, receivinu',
according to tlie church hook, the sahuy of >'200 a year,
wiiich was the laigest ,-alary yet i>aid up to that time.
Wiiile he was heie !iis sou Allies married Caroline Hal-
stead, and his daughter Mary married Austin Hickok.
Elder Sawyer lived iu the iionse ou \V,:shiugton street
now owned by Dr. Charles Holt, and it would seem to
liave been built for him since my giandnnjther writes
one day of calling on Mr.s. Ira Henderson, and adds, •
"^Irs. fi. came with me over the bridge as far as the
Elder's ni:w house. '"
'this diary gi\"> pie i>ant giimp>es of tlie S(jcial lift;
iiisTom' OF WFsrroirr .v6-.v
of tiio placo foi- one ^-ear. Tliesc were tho clays wlu-ti
matches, envelopes and steel pens were stiH unknown,
and the only means of licjliting was by tallow caudles,
dipped' or moulded in each household by hajid, wax
candles being brought from the city for extraordinary
occasions. The parlor candle-sticks had become very
elaborate affairs, arranged with circles of hanging
prisms to reliect the liglit and add brilHancy to the
room. Wall paper was still unknown, Init T doubt if
tlicre were wainscoted walls in Westport, although a
wainscot half way up the wall, with plaster above it, is
seen in all tho old houses. The height of fashion in
china was tlie beautiful flowing blue, of which so few
]iieccs have survived.
The women wore the short-waisted dresses, with
skirts short and scant, showing feet clad in the thinnest
of slipper^ and beautifully cl ckrd stockings. The ntck
and aims wei'e commonly left bare, and a cape carried
on the arm to throw over the shouhhu's when it was
cold. Perhaps this style of dress might account some-
what for the number of deaths by consumption in those
(\nly years of the century. Tlip hair was worn in high
juifl's and curls, with a high l-ack comb, and sometimes
with a curl falling each side of the face. The men wore
high stocks, and their dress coats were cut away in front
(<» show the most elaborate waist coats. Their hair
w;is allowed to grow long enough to brush straight up in
front and to curl back behiml the ears in a nnmner
mn<di admired. Th(^ trons.Ts wei'e held neatly in place
ovi r tile l.toots by straps nn/l'-r fhc i!istL[), and the hat
\lil
msTonY or wKsrrmrr
was bell-crownt i] with ciiiliij;j; hriisi. llntllcd .-^liiit
fronts wcif conijil(t.,ly out of f.ishion, Init weiv still
worn l)y some (.f tlu' older nit-u, aud John Halstoa 1
wore ioi);:; liosr iiiul silver hucklcd shovs as long as Ik-
lived. His sou Piatt nevt-r wore an overcoat, l>ut
wrapped Lis military cloak about his spare figure wlien
the weatiier was incleui^-ut, and it is ])artly on this a--
count th;it J am told by [Jcoph- wlio reiuend)er liitn that
he strongh- resembled the portrait of Yon M(;lth«. Tho
wonjen's bonnets wei't- tlie great flariug "pokes," which
stayed in fashion so many yei\rs, though the shapes
changed slightly, so that a tine Li-ghorn V)onnut might
be bleached and "done over'" on a new Ijlock from the
city as often as once in two or thiee years, and it is no
exaggeration to say that such a b(tnnet was (jften worn
ten years without tear of comment from one's neigh -
b.^rs. Jn the simple lit^ of th.e little lak.- shore villag,-,
peojjh- had [)lcnty of leisure, and my grandnKjthtr's
diary lecords many an afternoon \isit, with neighbors
coming in uninvited to si)end th^■ evening in pleasant
idiat. On more formal occasions you were invited f.u-
the afternoon and to stay to tea, like the companv
which Mrs. Katy Scudilci- invites in the first cha}>ter of
'"I'lje Minister's Wooing." Mrs. Stowe's ilescri]:ition of
manners and con\ersation might liave been given of
Westport in the tliiities, when it was fti(|Uette to prais(>
everything on the table, beginning with the weaving of
the linen, u liich was of course the wt)rk of your hr^stess,
ainl in jierfectly g.xid f<»i-m to inquii'e of your n's-a-ri.s
if he oi .^hv' ctijo\rd rcligioii. ( ).,c. the diary reeor-U:
iiisToin- or wr.sTi'Oirr :^(>r>
'"llecoivevl coiiniliinoiit>^ from ^^l•s. Wiglitman, witli an
invitation to visit lier this v. ."\1. Other companv ex-
]'tx-te(l, quite a little party." Ami after it was out,
'Olary Sawyer, Mr. ]Me]viiin-:}y, Miles ami I look a
short walk, the evi-ninj.^ lioinr^ very inviting and called
:it Mr. Holeonilt's." She had J;ine ^rcKinnej- and Julia
iriekok and Mary Savi-yer and other girls to stay with
h','r over iu[.;nt, and oT.ce they A\eM!, on horsel.ack to
'L'illiughasl Coh^'s to t-at v.-arm sugar. Tliere was also
an iiivitatitni ttj ;i part}- at "Mr. Newel's," and after
^Irs. Yan Yleek had come to tea, as .she frequently did,
it was ahvays endorsed "had an excellent visit." Then
as for the religious meeli))gs, they were an occupation
in themselves. Wh;it w(;uld you think wow of listening
to two long sermons every Sunday, with a Sabbath
>^chool session betwee)i, and a pra3-er meeting in the
evening, and tlieu two or three more "conferences"
tlirough the week "?
In August of this year occurred the great freshet
which was ftdt tlirough all the Champlain v.illey. The
Jiary says : "It has caused very extensive damages in
many ditVerent places, not so niuch in this a.s in many
nther.s. In Nfw Haven, \\., fourteen individuals were
swept away by the torrent of waters rushing upon tiiem
in the dead of night." Though no lives were lost in
A\estport, mills and bridges went out along the
Jjhiclc and tilt' Doquet, and Mill brook in the village
carried awa\- all the mills whieh stood above the pres-
ent dam. In St ptembcr the house of Dr. Wright on
juiu iiisroin- OF \\'/:sT/>of:T
' l'leas;int street w as 1)uiik'J, as is told in detail in tlio
diary.
Aeordiiiu; to AVatson, ''Hraiiiard's Forges, contain-
iii^ two or tlireo firijs each, wore erected iu 18;'>0, aud
stood on Black river, a few loilcs from the CiMirt
House."* We know th;it Da.vid Hiainard built ;i fur<^e
on the lilack iu ISli, and this was doubtless rebuilt
after the freshet.
On the first of :\!areh, 1800, the Tirst Ba].tist Church
of A\'estitort was legally iucorporated as a relii^ious so-
ciety, with t!ie followiijr:; trustees : Gideon Hammond,
Piatt Ji. Halstead. Ira, Henderson, (^eor<2je B. Reynolds,
Dr. Dan. S. Wright, Horace ILjlconib and John Kings-
ley.
Town Meetincr held at Elijah NewelTs.
Barnaba.s Mvriek. Supervi.sor.
Piodorn.-, S. Holeorni). Clerk.
Jesse Br-ainan, Di^j^iMrus f iolcijra'n and Ahmson Bari)ef,
Assessors.
Georire B. ReynoUls and John Ivingsley, Poor Masters.
Eh>zckiah Barber. Xewtun Hays and 'W'iliard Cluirdi.
Bii,'hway Commissioners.
Asabei Lyon, Ira [lenderson, Horaee Holeomb. SuboLi!
Commis.sioners.
Diodorus S. Holeomb. Hlisha (iartieid, Aaron B. yhu-k,
School lu.spectDrs.
Joseph liardy. Codeetor.
Joseph Hardy. Samuel Chandler and Joel A. Calhoun,
Constaoles.
Phiueas A. Durfy. P.)an(l .Master.
The entry is L-criihcil to by tbr^M. Justiees, Jesse Bra-
nran. .Me.\andei- Si)(MU't>r and Tideon ITmnmond. Tu-o
Justices w.-re elected. Alexander Spiaicer and John II.
I..<:ivv.
iiisrom' nr wFSTPDirr :u;7
P;ithm;i3tors. — Howard Mitrhi-U. E. IT. Coll, Jaau-s W.
Coll. Tillincrbost Cole, C;ileb F. Col.\ Austin Hickok. Bar-
iiaoas Myriok, MyroQ C. Cole. Luther AuL^ier. Iforatio
LoveL Gaov^^e W. Slurtovant. Thomas \Vos-;on, .\]ns"s F.'ll.
.lo'.'l Fitinoy, Nathan Cliast', Epbraini Bull. }ilarvoy Smith.
Fvno.s Lovciaud. Piatt Shelflon, William Stacy. John Stacy,
S.ii.'num Stockwoll. Hollli, Sherman. William McTntyi-e.
Ale.vander Mi'L'->uj:al, Silas Daniel.-,. Ebenc'/er Douglass.
Kriistus Loveland. JonatbaQ Cady.
Town rv]eetin^' adjoarned lo Elijah Xewell's.
Tliis year New Years Day fell o\\ JSaturday. On
Sunday the diai-y notes "AtteiuloJ lueetinfr. Elder
Sawyer'-s to.\t was in Jeremiah 28:15; This !n<rr tin, a
f<h'ilt die, A. solenm and im|jressive diseourse." Such
a text, dwelt u[.iou with the most positive convictioLi,
and delivered to a congref:;atioa which had not yet
learned to doubt, iiti-^ht well produce an impression.
The power of the ])rea.ehi!ii>; of those days lay greatly
in a ter\eut faith ii^ thi". supernatural. One of Ehler
S;iwye]'"s early ex})eiienees had been thi.-;. ^^'hen a
rough, uututoredTad, living in wilderness A\n-mont, he
learned to play cards. One night he and another b(jy
st(^le away by themselves, with one half-bui'ued caudle
for light, to play a game on the floor of a barn. Be-
coming absorbed in the game, which called for a keen-
ness of observation and of forethought nc-ver before re-
quired in any recreation of their dull lives, they played
all night long, nor thought to stop until daylight began
to break, lieealled to rectxjnition (jf their surround-
ings, tiiey saw that the candle was still burning biight-
ly, and was as long as it had been whem th.-y liist lighted
U, hours bcfor.-. EacJi ft!t sure that he had neither
. .."?''>■ lUSTOin UF ]Vi:sT/'(f/.'T
suullt.-il the caudlu iior ()ut a now oue itito tlie camlli -
stick since they bef^aii to phiy. 'J'ht; cunclusivju A\a>
ol)vi(^us. Since it was tf,> tlie a(] vantage of no one so
inncli as to the l^vil One himself that they should de-
vote themselves to siuh luiholy })ractices as card ]ihiy-
in^, it was jilain that, he, and no other, had suufted the
caudle and replenishf'd it, and so ])Volou(^ed their wick-
edness to suit his own ends. Xow if you believed that,
as Isaac Sawyer bolievpd it, you \\oidd look u}>on a
playing card with the same horror that he felt, that is,
you would act Uf'Oij your conviction as he did. Tiie
;,-. iie.xl o;enerati'.)u of Sawyers never played cards. In the
■■'. generation after that the s])ell had weakened, .so that
wht-n my mother told me the story she ex]>lained tho
abs(.>iption of the boys who suufted the candle and
changed it unconsciou>ly, and afterward were made
c<jv.ards by their own con-;eieiices, but nevertheless she
still felt the inherited horror stroiiger than reason, so
that the sigiit of a, playing card was actually nniileasani
to her. Now the ])reaching of a man w ho has such be-
lief as that in the neai-ness of the supernatural, deliv-
ered perhaps some night of the camp meeting which
\v;is again held this year on the Si^co farm, when the
light of the torches was reflected in the water, and made
such deep shadows behind the tree trunks, and the
voice of the |>reacher seemed to come from sotnc uii-
kiiown Country, may well have ])roduced an effect such
as the great revival which followed. Not that he was
the only (^ne \^•ll(> >-;p.)ke fiom the strength of such con-
viction-^, and >p.)kr with power, bather Cuin.-^tock to(>k
UJSTOUY OF WFSrrORT 3(J'.)
:i leadiijj^ part in those camp meeting.-, and the Metho-
dist prcaclieis of tliis time were Ovville Kyre])ton, G.
W. Estoy, Hiram Cliase and P. M. Hitchcok.
Dr. Cutting wrote as follows in regard to the reli.f^-
ious hisieiry of the year: "I well remember a revival
which occurred in 1S31. I was a student at the tim-j,
at home in search of health. On my urrival, I found
preparations in progress for a '3A>ur Days IMeei-
iug.' The frame of the house of worsliip had been for
some time raised, but the work had proceeded slowly.
Fvoof and rough boarding were now hurried on ; a loose
flooring was laid; rude benches were to furnish sittings
for the congregation, and a carpenter's bench a plat-
form for the preachers. The moral preparations seemed
to be less adequate. A meeting largely attended was
held in a school-house on the eveniiig previous to the
groat gathering in the unfinished church. The Provi-
dence of God had brought to the village, and that even-
ing, the venerable Father Comstock, a Congregational
minister, long known and honoured in Kortliern New
York. On these aged men devolved the duty of the
religious instructions of that evening. Father Com-
stock preached, making the union of Christians in love,
and prayers and labours, the burden of his message, and
reaching a strain of Christian eloquence which it has
never berii my lot to witness <in any other occasion.
Father Sawyer followed, reiterating and ap[)lying these
instructions, and, before the evening closed, the niem-
l)ers of the church, to that hour so languid and so
'wauling in faitli as well-nigh to quench the liuj)e o{ ,i
370 iiisToh'V OF WKsrroirr
bk-ssIiiL', wor.^ l)n)n;j;lit iq^nn thfir kn-r-.s in C'life^sions
:iiv] pravtM-s which were the snrt; pi-ociusors ol a great
iugithoriiiL; of souls. This ;.';i'oat revival was, 1 believe,
the last uutler the tninistrj of Father Sa\v\er at West-
port, and ilhistraterl, as it seems to me, the excellence
aipl heiuht of his ])uwer as a Christian ]'aste)|-."
This year the first class m.jetiii;:; of tlie Methodist
Ejiiscop;,! cluircli was *trrr;'.!ii?:e(1 at V.'jidli.ims Mills,
comj>osed as foUovs : Captain Ijevi Frisbie, le;id<>r,
with Nathan Jones, Thomas Wfssons, Mrs. T. Wessons,
0\-reuus Payne and a Lack family, in all teu persons, as
members. From this time on there Avas regular preaeli-
ini^ at the Falls by tlie cii'cnit rider.
Tlu! year was sit^nalized by ,L"^reat accessions to all
tlie chui-ches. The ]3a{)tist church records show sixty-
one additions in 1830, and forty-eij:,dit in the succeedin<:!;
years, and there was a ccvrrespouding increase in the
M. Vj. chnrcli. As nji^ht be expected, ehaugts were
sometimes made from one church tiM the orht>r, as when
Diadovus Hnlcnnb and his wife Sylva left the Baptist
uhureh for the MethoLlist. These were tryiu^i; occa-
sions, and doctrinal discussions were frequent and
searching, forming a common topic of conversation. It
was at ai)Out this time that the wife of Elder Lsaac xSaw-
yer ^born 31ary Willonghby,) delivered one of those
l>ithy sayings so fondly cherished by ])0sterity as indi-
cative of character: "We hear a great deal ahont Free-
will Jjaptists," iiaitl she, "and Hard-shell F>a})tists, but
the greatest trouble I have is with self-willed Baptists!"
An-ither suidrctof onversa.tion was the Anti-Masoio'e
inSTOliY OF WESTPORT 371
'movement, ^\ liich bad been growing ever since the mys-
terious disappearance of ^NForgan in 1826, and was
now at its height as a political power. Caroline Hal-
stead wrote in her diary in LSoO, "Attended the Asso-
ciation (of the Baptist Clmrehes) in Octcjber. The pro-
ceedings there caused nu^ uumy very }Kunful feeling-^.
Some of the churches were more engaged about Anti-
Masonry than religion, I fear." But all were not of
her mind, for the W'estport churches passed a strong
resolution against Free Masonry in 1831, followed, it
would seem, by divisions and unhappiuess, as might
have been expected. "Sister (Mary Hunter) Cutting"
confessed in 1S33 to having been much "troubled about
Masonry," being apparently quite out of sympathy with
the action of the church.
This year the hotel at Wadhan:)s was built by Isaac
Alden, a descendant of John Alden of the Mayflower^
His wife was the first wliito child boin in the vicinity
of Montpelier, Vt. lie >vas the father of Gen. Alonzi.i
Alden of the Civil War, who was born at Wadhams in
1831, attended the Academy at Keeseville, and in lSl-3
taught school in West[>ort. He afterward graduated
from William Colleges, and practiced law in Troy until
the Civil War, in which he rendered distinguished serv-
ices, becoming a brigadier-general.
Town Meetiug at Elijah Newell's.
Barnabas .M} rick. SuiHTvis'jr.
Aaron H. Maek, Clerk.
:i7j iiisToiry <>F wKsrmirr
Jossp nfamun, Aliiiisoii }?;'.vbL'r, (Jidt^on HamnioiHl, As-
St'SSOfS
Joseph Hardy, Collector.
(leoi-i^^e W. lievuolds and J(.>hii Ciiandlrr. Poor Masters.
James \V. CvW, Willard Cbureli, Newlon Hays, Highway
CommissioLiers.
Irii HeudersoD. Horace nolcomb, A.sahol L\itn. School
roir.missioiier;-.
Joseph H. Delano. [). S. Holcoinb, Abiathar Pollard,
School Inspectors.
Joseph liardy. Therot) Slaughter and Joel A, ('alboun.
Constables.
Newtou Hays, Pouud Master, aod also the incumbent of
a new office, that of Town Sealer ot Weights and Measures.*
Gideon Hammond. Justice.
Pathmasters--Joseph BiLfelow, John Stone, Aluusou
Harber. Asa Lovpland, Caleb P. Cole, Asahel Lyon, Bar-
nabas Myrii'k, .My run C. Cole. Nathaciel Allen, Henry
Kjy(;e. George Fortune, Isaac Alden, Tliomas Hadley, Au-
gu^,t'js Hill, Samuel A. Wigbiman, John Lobdell. Johnson
Hill, Timothy Draper, Andrew Fiasbie, Jonatluiu Nichols,
Iriies Shirtlifr, Forest M. Goodspeed, Eli I'^erris. Epbraim
C.)ulbuin. Josepj Faruham. John Sweat, Nathaniel Hiiilc-
ley. George Vaughan, Josinthau Cady.
V<)ied to the supoort of the poor. ^9:175.
It was this dayenacied llial the coUectorshould '"collect
for thtee pur cent, of the wh(jle anKjunt." Also tnat scnool
conitui^.-iioners and school inspi'Clors should shtvl- for SI. UO
a (lay. .-\.Uo that all neat catrle should run as fi-ee com-
ii.ouers. und that a lawful t\/uce "must be matle of sound
inatei-ials and b'> 41 feet hiirh.
It was ill 1832 tiiat the Kents came, from Bensou,
Vt., ami a new industry was staiteJ. Dan Kent was a
hatter, atnl he made liats in a building at the east end
1)1 the luidge at Northwest Bay, emph>ying a number of
•This office, which was regTilarly filled every year for twenty- two years, was
coQ.sideret! very important at the time. It was the duty of the Sealer to examine
weights and measures in the tc.vn, and certify U»ose which accorded to the U-£:al
standard by affixing a seal. This was a protection to the ignorant or unwary from
unscrxipulous d»aiers, and also a v.-clcomi: endorsement for all hunest tradesmen.
J/IST(Ji:y OF V.'KSrroRT :i7:i
men. Tliis "liat shoi>." st.-unling wlicro llu^ i)ul)lic
fountain now stands, was threfc-stovieJ, and built in a
square, massive style, with many windows. It \sas
used as a tenement after tlie raanufacturc of liats ceased
to be profitable, and was not torn down until about
18S7. 'J'he builder was I^avid Clark, (grandfather of
the present builder of the same name,") and the first
owner sneni.s to h;ive bten John H. Low.
Dan H. Kent married Samautha Hammond, daughter
of Gideon. His sister Harriet married Ralph Love-
land, sou of Erastas and grandson of Enos. Katharine
Kent was a peculiarly beloved school teacher among
the village children, and married the Eev. Mr. Wliit-
ney.* Angusta Kent was also a school teacher, in
Westpoit and in the south, and married Mr. Victor
Spencer, who was book-keeper for Silas Witherbee at
Jacksoiiville, and also well-known as a teacher. He
was for a while in business with Dr. Piiehardson of
Wiiallonsbmgh, :ind afterv.-ard went to IMichigan, where
he was connected with Mr. Lovehuid in the lumber
business. Mrs. Spencer has been of the greatest assist-
ance in preparing this part of this history, especially in
a vivid account of the village as she first saw it, cova-
iug into it on the road fiom Barl)er's Pointy a lit-
tle girl nine years old. So many changes have come
•One o£ the most irrepressible of the boys who went to school to Miss Kent was
Conant Sawyer, and he afterward gave evidence of the love and respect which she
inspired in hirn by na:ning his dajgh'.er after her. The Kents were cousins of
Mrs. Katy Childs Wail<er, a wellkaown contributor to the Atlantic Monthly of a
g-encration ago. One of her wittiest and moit often quoted articles was "The
Total Depravity os Inanimate Things." She often visited in Westport.
:r74
n I STORY OF WESTPoirr
ubout in the sevcuty years since tlu'ii that it \^ or.kl take
paj^es to explain to a stranger her account of tlie houses
which stood between the Point and the bridge in the
village, but it has been invalual.ile to the writer as
the one point of solid gromul upon whicli to stand in
looking forward and back iij an estimate of the histori-
cal growth of the village. She saw a little countiy
]ilace, of hardly more than one street running along
above the shore, quiet aad yet busy, slow but not yet
shabby, with good houses and well-dressed jieople, and
u social life in which it w as possible to find cultivated
minds and manners, with leisure for conversation.
Many a glimpse of these conditions is given in Mrs.
Spencer's letters, like this incid(;nt of her first summer
in Westport.
"Eliza Durphy lived at our house then, and took me
with her to Caroline Sawy>n-'s.— the old TLdstead house
on the corner.- She was after a copy of the missionary
hymn wi'itten, 1 think, by the author of 'Anierica,'
Smith. It began :
"Yes. my native land. J love tlioe well;
Can I, can 1 leuve thee, lui'in heathen lands to dwell?"
"I remember so well your grandmother's soft voice
nud pleasant ways, and the big bunch of flowers she
gave me, v,ith some jiink lavender which she called 'cn-
pids.' Your mother was Lun-n soon aft^;r. I was ou\y
nine years older than she was." A missionary hymn-
and a gift of flowers, remembered for seventy years,
show that there was gr'Utleness and refinement :it h(-ime
in this reui-t..- place. XwA tlje chdd who "was bora
HISTORY OF M'HSrroRr o'7.'.
soon after" loveJ llo%vei'.s anJ poetry witli a [)as.sionate
love all her life.
Mrs, Spoucer goes on to say tliat Aaron B. Mack l)uilt
the brick house just north of Judge Hatch's, afterward
occupied by Charles B. Hatch, that summer, and in the
fall the house still further north, commonly called "the
Aikens hou^e," from the fact tliat Judge Aikens after-
ward owned it, was built for John H. Ijow.
This was Dr. Abiathar Pollard's first year in West-
port, lie being elected school inspector immediately
after his arrival. He was born in Bridgewater, Yt., in
1808, and had just graduated from Castleton Miidical
College. His parents were Abiathar Pollard, from
Massa.chusotts, and Comfort Sisco Pollard. The Sis-
cos had been at Sisco ba}' at least since 1821. After
about four years' practice in Westport, Dr. Pollard at-
tended lectures at the University of Pennsylvania, and
in 1S3"> married Hannali Douglass, daughter of Ebe-
nezer. He was six years in Cha/y, Clinton county,
eight years in Eeeseville, two iu New York and eight in
California, and iu 18G1 returned to \Vestj)ort and there
remained until his death.
1833.
Town Meeting held at the lua of Newton Hays.
A sail el Lvon, Supervisor.
AaroG B. Mack, Clerk.
Jesse liraman, Justice.
Newton tliiys. Collector.
AK^.\arider Spencer, Diodorus Ilolcomb. Joseph Hardv.
Ass.'-,-,. M-s,
370 IIISTOIZY OF WKSTPORT
■ Hezokiah Barber, James W. Coll, John Greely, Jr.,
Hijfhway CorntnissioDcrs.
Abiatbar Pollard. Florace Holcorab, Ira lienderson,
School Cuinuiissiooers.
D. S. flolcomb, Asabel Lyon, Myron C. Cole. School In-
spectors.
Geori^e B. Reynolds and Abel Baldwin, Poor Masters.
Newton JTays, Joel A. Calhoun, Therou S]aLi(.'hter, Con-
stables.
Newton Hays, Pound Master, and Sealer of Weights and
Measures.
Pdthrnaster— Horace C)imsby. Isaac Stone, Ebencr.er
Spencer, Andrew Frisbic, Williaui Frisbie. Norris Mc-
Kiuny. Cyrus Picbards, Myrou C. Cole, Calvin Angi^r,
Danea Dodt»-e, Willard Church, Lemuel Whitney, xVbel
Baldwin, Joel Finney. Jeduthan Cobb, Willard Hartwell,
Amos Smith. Oliver' B. Babcock. Piatt Sheldon. William
Stacy. William Pericius, Archy Duuton. Orrin Siciuner.
Moses Felt. Edward Harper, Geor;y:e Skinner, Nathaniel
Hinkley, Geor<^e Vaughan, Jonathan Cady, Elisha Royce.
It was voted that the balance of the money in the hands
of the Po'ir Masters belon^ins,' to the town should bo ap-
plied to the purchase of Wei^^'hts and Measures.
"The luQ of Newton Hays" stood on the corner of
Main and WasliiDj^ton streets, on the present Library
lawn. Tradition saith that tliis inn was first built by
Aaron Felt. Next year avb find it occupied by Harry
J. Person. I liave been told that Newton Hays built
the brick house standing above the Library, so long
known as "the Walker Eddy house," at about this time.
In the road surveys we find a new road laid out "from
Douglass wharf to David S. McLeod's." The McLeod
house on the corner was burned in 190L
1834.
Tbis year t!ie Town Meetin<4' was held "at the Inn of H.
J. Person." This shows tnat it wJis at this ti;ne that H.
JIfSTOh'Y OF WKSTl'Oirr -ITT
,T. Person boutrht the hotel mi the corner, which was so
we!l known a laDciniark until it was burned in the fire of
JS7G. Mr. Person kept it until his death.
Ebenezcr Douijlass, Supervisor.
Benjamin P. Dout^lass. Clerk.
Diodoi-us Holeorab, Justice.
Alanson Barber, John Chandler and Joseph Hardy, As-
sessors.
Hezekiah Barber, John Greely, Jr., Abel Baldwin, Road
Commissioners.
STfU-ton Ilays. Collector.
Ira Henderson, D. S. irolcoa::b, William L. Wadharris.
School Commissioners.
Miles M"F. Sawyer, .Abiathar Pollard. Jus^^ph Pv. Delano,
School Inspectors.
John Lobdeli, Levi Frisbie, Poor Masters.
Newton Hays. Therou Sla'Jtrhter, Marcus J. Hoisington,
^Tfanville Stone, Joel A. Calhoun. Constables.
Enos S. Warner, Sealer of Weitrhts and Measures.
Xorris McKinney and Thomas Weston, Pound Keepers.
Two poutids are established this year, for the first time,
sbowinij the increasing' needs of a cri-owintjf settlement.
Norris iMcKinuey lived at North West Bay, and Thomas
Weston near Wadhams Mills.
Pathmasters— Thomas Locli. 0^is Sheldon. Union Coll,
Noel Merrill, Da-vid Rogers. Newton Hay^. John Greely.
Jr.. Willard Frisl.ne. Eiea;^a.r H. Ranucy, Henry R^yce.
(ieorge W. Sturtevaut. Jason Braman, Joseph Hardy.
Charles Denton, John Stanton. John Lobdeli, Ephraini
Bull, Lyman Smith. John F. Alexander, William Perkins.
<;iles Shirtlcff, Stephen Barber. Lee Prouty. Moses Felt.
Robert McDougal. Leonard Taylor. Ebenezer Douglass.
George Vaughan. Jonathan Cady, Thomas Fortune.
Voted to appropriate 65.81 to purchase the Desk ex-
amined by the Auditors for the deposit of town Books and
Papers. The Auditors were the Town Board.
This year a road was discontinued, "'beginning at the
intersection of the road h-ading from O. H. Barrett's with
llie road leading from Wadhams Mills to John Daniels'
forge, to the north line of Jesse Braman's Lot.""
The surveyor was Joel K. French.
It w;is about this time, perhaps somewhat earlier,
:{7s iiisrou'Y or wKsTi'oirr
tluit Asahel lioot c;uiie from Eliznla'tlitDUU uikI settlt.-.l
()!j the lake road, on the farm so lou-^ occupied by liis
son, Col. Samuel Eoot, until the ])ro})erty v.-as sold to
the Westport Farias in ]vS'.)7. Col Hoot was a boy of
sixteen when the family movt,'d into town. He after-
ward married Cynthia Fisliei', and one of their dau;j;h-
ters is Mrs. Chaflos H. PattisOQ of Moriah. He re-
ceived ills title through being elected Colonel of the
militia at the tiu)e of the Civil War, and though he
uever went to the front, he did gallant service in rais-
ing the w;ir qu^)ta of the town. (His father had l)eeu
a sergeant in the militia during the war of 1812.) He
might be called our "uar supervisor," since he held
that oillce from ISli'J to 1863. He represented the
county in the Assembly 1868 and 186i>.
In 18H-1, David Clark came to this village with his
family, from Cornwall, Vt. He was a house builder,
and a good proportion of the houses now standing ii>
Westport were built by hinj,and by his sou, and b}- his
grandson, the latter being still the principal contractor
for new buildings. Mr. Aaron Clark was for many years
a |)romiuent man in the afVairs of the M. K church.
He married Harriet Clark, a grand-daughter of Capt.
Levi Frisbie, and their children were : David married
Minnie Pattison. Aaron B. took orders in the Episco-
pjd Chuich, an<l is now living in Dal<(>ta. Mary mar-
lied F-dmund J. Fh>yd. Theresa married Nelson J.
txibbs. Anna married Mr. Miildlebrtjok, and is now
living in Yergennes.
ImujijJ":'.'.!' >M. w;i.s n.ow bii-dv {\:\u\ al! directions. Fr^n.^
HISTORY OF WKSTPrnn' :u:i
the nortli Q<\\v\e in tlie Stevfnsous, and sfttlcMl in tlje
oxtrerne soutli of P)essljoro, on the lake shoif. This
family came from Kelso, Scothind, on tlie river Tweed.
William Stevenson was a carjienter, and he, with
his wife, three sons and one daughter, came to
.America about 1830, landing at Quebec and com-
ing; from there to Whallonsljurgh, and a ilttle
latt r to Westjiv-rt whe}-e he boup;ht a faiiu near tlie
'"stone bridge," at the mouta of Beaver Brook. The
canny Scf)tchmaD watched his neighbors at their farm-
jjjg, and observed that they were using an old-fashioned
kind of plow, not ada])ted to tlie soil whicli they were
working. IIh had made for himself a plow after the pat-
tern of those which he had seen in the old country, and
.'^o introduced the first "long-mold-board, long handled
plow" ever seen m Westport. The Stevensons were all
skilled mechanics, the three sous working for the Bay
State Iron Company at Port Henry for many years,
besides carrying on tiieir farms in Westport.*
This was one of the earliest springs on record, the
ice being out of the lake at Flattshurgh March 15. But
♦William Stevenson was thrice married. His son Thomas wag the child of the
first vrife, John of the second wife, and Alexander and Margaret of the tliird wife.
Thocaas married Isabella dughter of Robert Williamson of Galtonside,
Roxboroshire, and tl-.ey had six children, the oldest of whom was Ljeut
William Henry S'evenson of Co. F, liSth N. Y. V. John Stevenson married
Sarah Van Antwerp, »nd they had six children, of whom Jacob V. was in the
77th N. Y. v., and William was also in the service of the United States
duripg^ the Civil War. Alexander married his cousin, Marjj-aret, daughter
of Robert Richardson, »nd they had nine children, the oldest of whora
is Robert Richardson Stevenson, at one time editor of the Ticonderoga
Sc'ntiocl, and School Comm.'ssioner. (Charles W. Stevenson of We>tport is his
■iso . IllSrom' OF WKSTl'iiRT
it V.MS a1>:o ii yt'ar whi.'U the .s])iin<^- went backwanl, as
the 14tli ami Lllli of IMay saw a great snow stoim, })il-
iug the snow in Jrifts. Jiarnabas Myrick went to the
Assembly at Albany this year, and another event, quite
as mnc-h a njattev nf coniruent, was the death of Joseph
Call — ''.loe Call, the Ivowis j^iaut," — uho hail moved to
\\'estport suuie years before this time. Essex countv
mytlu.lo^y is enriehed by ujauy a yarn about the
streugtli of this man. He had been a soldier in the
IJritish army, had won a watch in a wrestling match in
Scotlanil, had eocne to An^.erica ami f.>ught on our side
in the war of 1812, had crushed V)etween his hands a.
British grenadier in Plattsburgh who would not wresth^
fairly, and was altogether l)eloved as a typical embodi-
ment of the strength oi the young republic pitted
against the unfair bullying of Eughvud. One delightful
story, alt(igether "too g(K>d to be true," is of his fame
reaching to I',ugland, or perhaps being never forgotten,
there, and of a champion wrestler crossing the seas
and seekitig him out on his Lewis farm, where he was
discovered plowing. N(.w Joe Call did not show his
immense strength at the tirst glance^ being no more
tiian si.\ feet high, and "heavier'n he looked,"
(perhaps wlien local genius elaborates this point
there is a subtle intention to inn>ly that one must
Marjcaret, daughted of William. Stevenson, married John Ortniston, who came
from Berwick-oti-Tweed, and they had seven children. As William Stevenson>
the fcainder of the family in America, had twenty-eight grand children, nearly all
of them born in Westport, oo one will expect me to eo much as make a
bcfinnin^ at naminff his descendants. The records of this family have been kept
with an admiraMe fidelity and exactnf^s, showitiif that the siiiri". of the old SvO*-
tish clan still survives atuonjj thtMr Airciic nn StcvcniOus>,
JUS TO in' OF WKSTPORT :^SJ
ho mneli more than six feet liigh aud proportiouately
Ptroug to exoite notice anioug our stalwart raouvitHin-
t'ors,) ami when ttie stranger iuqnired the way to Jog
Call's house, the plowman lifted his plow in one liand
and silently pointed to the nearest farmhouse! Of
course the story concludes v.-itli the statement that the
stranger had no courage to try a fall with the famous
vrestler :ifler tliaf.
On May 1st, ]8ol, the Essex Couuty Academy waH
established' in Westport under an act of the Legislature
authorizing Asahel Lyon, Pl«.tt Bogers Halstead aud
Beuajah P. Douglass to incorporate the same. This
Academy v. hs i\.iv twenty years or more oueof the most
important schools along the lake receiving students
from New York aud Montreal, as well as from Vermont
.and from all the towns of the county. Its sessions were
held in a large building on the south side of Washing-
Ion street, /on the site now owned by Frank L. Smith,)
which was built for a dwelling house by Austin Hickok^
a ffw years before tliis time. The large white house
just above it, now occupied by Mrs. E. B. Low, was
built as n boarding house for the Academy, and so used
as long Jis the Academy tiourished. The old Academy
building burned about 1S74. The first trustees of the
Aeadem\- were Aaron 15. Mack, Judge Charles Hatch,
Charles Jl Hatch, (leorge V>. iieynrdds, Ira Henderson,
"N'orris McKinney, iJarnabas Myrick, CalcV* P. Cole anil
Joseph Cole. The capital was S'2o()0, in shares of ^2-")
•Austin Hickok was a brother of Dr. llcnry ilickok, so long' pastor of the Pre»-
byterian Church of Orunge, N..I., .jQii Mrs. C. H. Eddy (born Marit-tta Hickck)
u-ds his siscer.
Js-J HlsroUY OF WKSTI'ORT
each. March 6, LS^JS, the Acailemy received a ebai ter
from th^' Piegeiits.
This yoar a jvursouage was pnrehaseii for the M. J',
cliurcli, but 1 have failed to find wliere it stood. The
coiiimittce appoiuted to mauage the business was John
Gibbs, Joseph BurHu-ame, II. S. Odeli, D. Holcouib
and William Frisbie. At this time Westport and
Mfjriah bclongetl to the Middleburv ])istrict, and
the preachers were Ezra Sayres and Andrew C. Mills.
The sutumer camp meeting was held, not on the hike
shore, but in a grove near the brook on Piatt lialstead's
farm — since Albert Carpenter's.
This year Capt. Ira Henderson^ the boat -builder,
erected a large house on North street with fireplacen
and brick oven. In 1848 it was converted into a hotel
by his sou-iudaw, William Ilicliards, an^d so used until
it was burned in 1893.
1830. •
TowD Meeting at the Inn of l\. J. Person.
El)eiiezer Douifiuss. Su})cr\isor.
Keuajah P. Douglass, ClerK.
Ira lieudei'sou. Justice.
Hoi-;ice Holcotab. Aoel Caldwin, Isaae&tone, Assessors.
Mile.> M'P. Sawyer. AUuison Baroer. Moses Felt, Kuad
Cuuunissiouers.
Marcus J. Hoisiugton, Collector.
D. S. Holcomb. Abitbar Poiiard. William Frisbie, Scho<.ii
Ci)miuissiouers.
EaosS. Wuruer, Asahel Lyon. Albert P. Cole, School
Inspectors.
Newtiui Hays. Marcus J. Hoisington, Alanson Denton,
Constables.
Levi Frisi'ie and John LnbdelL Poor Masters.
Laruabu> .\l\riiK. S..';iler of W'^ii'tiLs and Meas>ures.
TU^TORY OF V,'ESTrf)RT .W.7
Patlimasters. — Thomas Lock, Ephraiin Colburo, Uuion
Coll. Levi Frisbie, Amos Culvei", Newton Ilays. Wiram
Ayrcs, Wilkifd Frisbie, Calviu Angipr. Charles 5l. Church,
Abram E. Wadhams. Jason Duii.-^ter, Au^^Jstiis Hill, Oliver
>[. Larrett, Wiliard Hartwell, Johnson Hill. David Smith,
John F. Alexander, Jonalhau Nichols, Bejamia West-
gate, So!onr»on Stock well, John Charaberlin, Darius Mer-
riara, Joseph Faroam, George Skinner, Ebouc^er Doug-
lass, George Vaughan, Jonathan Cady. Emory Mather.
Voted that the balance of nioney in the hards of thel'cor
Masters be ajiplied for the support of the common schools,
and that the books kept b^' the Poor Ma.'^ters be deposited
in the Town Clerk's oQice.
That the School Commissioners revise and regulate the
boundaries of the school districts.
Adjourned to Spencer's Hotel.
This year a special Town Meeting was called in June to
olect an Assessor iu the place of Isaac Stone, who did not
serve. DiadMru^^ Holcomb was elected tothe vacant place.
in the road surveys we find an alteriitibn of the road
'"leading from Whallon's Mills to North West 13ay, begin-
ning opposite Henry Royce's dwelling house." The sur-
veyors w^^re Abram Stone and Joel K. French. A new
i-oad was opened "'froni Mosps Felt's to Darius Merriam's.
and to Fflt and Mprriam's [Mill Yard." Piatt FJogers Hal-
stead surveyed aioad "'from l.uthcr Angler's to V,'ualluu"s
Mill."
Now begius another era, witli tlie prosperous exist-
ence of the Acaderay. From the first, Westport has
never been uumintlful of her schools. Even tlie primi-
tive district scliools seem never to have beeu tau^^ht by
ihe most worthless members of the community, as some
stories of eavlj baekwoods schools in other places would
invlicate, and Dr. Cuttinj;^ has left his testimony that in
18'2I» he found what he calls "a good school" at Nortli-
west Bay. Wi? wish he had recorded the teacher's
Kame, as very few of the early teachers are remenibered
Jo-da\, Tin; nan)es of .Miss (?.i(lv ;)ik1 Miss J^ites yre
\
3S4 iiisTonv OF ]vi:sTi'(j[rr
' luentioiieJ, ciud we know tliat TiUcetta J;r)\ oland, (aftti-
ward 1^1 IS. Kgerton,) anl Huldah Holcomb, (afterward
Mrs. liartli.'tt,) taught several terms. Later, the teacli-
ers of the township were almost universally from tlic
Acadeniv— -M)-. Wheaton Cole writes: "Afterward 1
attended tlie Westport xVcadeuiy, where I fiuislieii
my school work, atni began teaching in Pantou, ^'t.,
at the j)ri!u;ely salary of eleven dollars per month,
aud boarded around. 'Four months gave me forty-
four, dollars. I was rich. It was the most mon-
ey I had ever had at one time in my life. I
always loved the school rooui, aud taught twelve terms,
ten of theui iu Westport seljools. I was the town su-
perintendent for Westport, aud in after years was the
county superintendent of Fayette county, Iowa, for
seven years. My last school was taught at Wadhams
Mills; the teacher left, and I finished the school term."'
FTappily, a catalog of the first working year of the
Acadeiny has remained, not yet "overtaken by eteiu-
ity," like so au'.uy docuijsonts that we would like to
see. It is here printed entire. After the names of res-
ident pupils tlie address "Westport" is omitted.
Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the
Essex County academy, Westport,
FOR THE year 1836.
Ti"ustees: Cbarlos Hatch, Gtorgc J3. Rcyaolds, Aaruti
B. JNluL-k. iJarc.abas My rick. Ira fiendersou. Charles IJ.
HatcL. Xorris McKiunev. Caleb Cole, Abiatbar Pollard
M. U.
lii-5tr.Kturs : Orsuu Iv-'Hol';:. A. M.. Priucipal.
s
in STORY OF WESTPOirr 3Srj
Abial P. Mead. M. D.. (of Essex.) Lecturer.
Mr. Jesse P. Bishop, Male Teacher.
Miss Eaiily P. Gross, (of Keeseville,) Teacher.
Miss Mary Severance. Music Teacher.
]Miss C. S. L. 3>IcLeod, Teacher of I'rimary
School.
Evander W. Ranuey, M. D., appointed T^cct-
urer for the eusuin;; N'ear.
]Male l>ci:)artnieiir..
Lewis Bnrtlett, Jay. Jesse 'P. Bishop, Pauton, Vt.
Jobn F. Donner, Montreal, L. C. Judson Bostwick. Ed-
win N.- B'Dstwiek, ^Montreal. Janaes P. Butler, Moriab.
Thomas W. Call. Francis Chase, Keeue. Adams Clark,
David Clark, Aaron Clark, Dexter B. Colburne, Moses
Coll. Harry X. Cole, Dan Cuttino-. Thomas Donaldson,
New York City. Ebenezer Douglass, Ticonderoga. Francis
A. Douf^'lass, Ticonderoga. Edward Douglass, Cornwall,
Vt. James W. Eddy, Samuel H. Farnsworth. Daniel
French, Lewis. James Farnsworth. Albert A. Farns-
worth. Lewis. Henry Farnsworth, Fort Ann. 3Jartin
Farrand, Jeremiah Flinu. AbielGouId. Piundolph, Vt. John
S. Gould. Essex. Luther B. ILimmond, Rensselaer B. Flam-
moud. Houry Hap^food, Edwin Hatch, Percival Flatch,
George V\'. Henderson. Willian Fligby, ^Yillsborougb.
Wiliiam'Holconib, Benjamin Frank Holcomb, William Hod-
ges. John Howard, .^ioriah. Lucius Howard. Daniel
Howard, New Haven, Vt. Cyrus Kellogg. Elizabethtov.n.
Richard Henry Lee, Lewis. Benjamiu F. T>ee. Lewis.
Diadorus H. Loveland, l^lph A. Loveland, Solon Lovell,
Li;cius Lvon. Henry Marks, Elizabethtowu. Foster Mc-
Kinney. John L. Meri-iam, Essex. Ira Myrick. Nathan
Myric'k. Rowland J. Nicbols. Lewis. William H. Peck.
Keeseville. Michael Phyfe, New York Citv. William
Phyfe, New York City. Orrin Reed. Jay. Alva C. Rog-
ers, Anson Rogers, David Rogers, Samuel Root. Stephen
Rowo, Chesterfield. John N. Rust, New York City.
Cvrus Richards, Charles Richards. John Savre. Samuel
M'. Scott. Keene. William G. T. Shedd. Willsborough.
Henry Shedd. Willsborough. Marshall Sbedd. Wills-
biirouirh. Edward Shumwuy. Essex. Dennis B. Stacey.
Charles Sr.iCev. Thomas *D. SfatVoru, E-..^cx. Miroa,
\
3Sf> jiisTORV OF WKsrrnirr
Stearnes, FJizabethtown. Alpheus Stono, Stillinau Stone.
Jonatban Ti'.rbcH, Moriah. David T. Taylor, Xt,-w York-
City. Obod Taylor, Esstx. John C. Thoaipson. Burliui.'-
tOD, Vt. Higby Tbroop, Willsborouo^h. Dauiel Wballon.
Essex. Reuben Whallou, Es.sex. Samuel M. Williams.
Russell I. Williams, Sudbury, Vt. Barnum Wiuaus.
Ferrisburixli, Vt. Sarell Wood, Jay. Alva Woods,
Crown I'nint.
Female r)epai'lineiit.
Eliza Augier, Nancy Angler. Sally Bishop. Leu-is.
Lacy Bruce, Keoue. iVeue Call. Eliza Cole. Stilhvater.
Mai'tina Ann Cole, Mary Cole, Roby Cole. Marietta Claik.
Julia Clark. Paaielia Clark, Mary Cutting, Mahala Drake.
Sophionia Dral;e. Mai'y Ann Ferris. Pamelia Fiuuv. Anna
Finny. Betsey Fisher, CynrhiaFisber. MaryFost..'r,Moriah.
Jane Agnes Flack, \Villsborougb. Mariah Gibson. Spring
Arbor, Mich. Mary Gould, Essex. Emily P. Gross.
Keeseville. Mary A. Hammond.Jane E. Hammond. Phebe
F. Hall, Jav. Eunice Hatch, Mary Ann Henderson. Mari-
etta Hickock. Xev.- Haven. Vt. Sybil Agnes Hairar. >Fiddie-
bu ry . Vt. El v i-ra H ende rsbn . ElmiraHolcomb. IS'an e v M . How -
ard,'Moriab. Sary M. Howard, Benson, Vt. Betsey Isman.
Caroline Isman. Essex. /. ugusta M. Kent. Catharine
Kent. EstherKetchel, Essex. Catharine Low, Lewis. Lsa-
bella G. Mead, Jane ^L Meaa. Sarah Mead, Sylvia Mer-
riam, Essex. Mary F. McLeod. Betsey Morse, Louisa
Morse. HarrierNe«leton,Jav. Mary Ann ParkilL Essex.
Caroline E. Peck, Keeseville. Esther P. Ranuey, Eliza
Ann Reynolds. Anna Jane Reynolds. Clarissa Richards,
Catnaline Rising. Sarah Ann Rust, New York City.
Samuutha Sawyer. West Haven. Vt. Cbristeeu Sheldeu.
Ess.^x. CaroliueSpencer. Harriet S}>encer. Eliza Sprajjue.
New Haven, Vt. Esther Stafford. Essex. Annia Stearnes.
E!iz;ibethtowu. Jane A. Stoddard. Bui-linirton, Vt.
Celia Stone, Clintonville Jane E. Stow. Ke.^seville. Al-
mira Sturtevant, MariahSturtevant. Harriet Tarbell. Mo-
riah. Jerusha Young. Sarah Young. Ekiorah Whallon,
Charl'.tte Whallon, E'^sex. Rebecca Wvman, Srhrom.
V
JI J STORY OF WKSrrOUT
Primary School.
. . r-
Males, li"). Females, 15.
Keeapitulatiou. Male Dept., 91. Female Dept., 77.
Primary School, 40. Total 208.
Attendiuof 1st Term, com. 1st Moudav in Jan., 124.
2ud " ' May, 101.
3rd '• Sept., 111.
Average per Term, 112.
Tuitiou per Quarter, for the Common Fn^lis^h
Studies, §3.00
For the Languages and Higher Branches, $4.50
Music with use of Piano, $10.00
Chemical Lectures, §3.00
Charles Hatch, President of the Board of Trustees.
Aaron B. Mack, Secretary.
The Principal, Orson Kellogg, graduated from the
University of Vermont in 1823, Laving entered from
Elizabethtown, N. Y. He remained at the Lead of tLe
Academy for eigLt years, presiding over the busy Live
of tLu boarding house, and is remembered as exceed-
ingly efficient iu every capacity. From Yfestport Le
seems to Lave gone to Xew York, wLere ho tauglit
school for a number of years, and died there in 1853.
Following Mr. Kellogg as Principal was William
Higby, of Willsboro, \vh(.)se name appears as a student
in thisyear's catalog. He graduated from the University
of Vermont in 1840, and practiced law. When gold was
discovered in California he joined in the rusL to the
Pacilic ccast, iu 1850. He became District x\ttoruey
of California, District Judge, went to the State Legi.sla-
ture, and to ^'ashington as Congressman from 1853 to
ISG'J. lie died at Santa Kosa, Cal., iu 1Sh7.
\
.V6\9 ji/STo/n' OF wKsrroirr
Anotiier priucipal was a Mr. Dates, sou of the Ecv.
Joshua Bates, president of Midillebiuy College. As ]
find that ho liad five sons, this is not very detinite.
Around the name of Euiily Gross, the '"Female
teacher," cluster memories of the most engaf^iug ro-
mance. She was beautiful, talented, highly educated,
'beloved by all who kucvx- her. She was daughter of
that Ezra C. Gross to whom William Kay paid such a
flourishing compliment when he told Governor Tomp-
kins the n;ime of his fellow editor of the Ucv^^Wc. Her
mother was a ]\Iiss Fisher of Elizabethtown. After the
death of father and mother she was adopted by ]Mr.
and Mrs. Oliver Keese of Keeseville, and she was given
''a finished education" by the Free Masons. She after-
ward married a millionaire, or at least a very wealthy
man, Mr. liansom E. Wood, and one romantic incident
of her life is that of her daughter's receiving the auto-
gra|)h of Piiiice Uismarek, after having been receivtd
at the court of Uerlin. And now tlie beautiful Emily,
who once smiled upon the half-grown boys and girls
w ho flocked up and down our Washington street — the
grandfathers and grandmothers of the present genera-
tion— lies buried in an English church-yard, at
Matlock, Cath, in Derbyshire, and there in the little
church you may see a memorial window which com-
memorates her virtues. Perchance some of our own
girls who are now teaching school in Westport may,
sixty years hence, have a like romantic story of beauty
and good fortune for some chronicler to write down.
Anotiier teacher in the Academy was ]Miss Charlotte
s
lIlSTORy OF WESTPORT 3S9
Holly Kitebel, v. sister of the Rev. Harvey Deuisou
Kitchel, prosidoui of Mkldlobary College from 18GG to
1873. She marriod the Eev. Dauiel Ladd, a Congrega-
tional triinistor who went as a missionary to Turke}-,
and iu that foreign land she spent thirty-one years of
her life, bearing five children while iu exile.
Other teachers, according to the memory of some of
our old people, were Lucy Ann Clark, daughter of David
Clark, Mrs. Farrar, Miss Ursula Kelley and a Miss
Whittlese\', said to be a sisier of the Hev. William "W.
Hiekox. who built the stone cottage on the hill south of
the Village, now owned by Mr. Sherwood.
Some of the girls whose names appear in this cata-
log as pupils afterward taught in the Academy and in
the district schools in town, as Mar}' Ann Hammond
and Augusta and Katharine Kent. Sarah Young, daugh-
ter of Alexander young, had the great good fortune to
tinish )ier education at tlie Troy Female Seminary
which Miss Emma Willard made so famous between
the yeiirs 182i and 1838. To attend this seminary was
the height of every studious girls ambition at this time,
in this region. It was a place where girls learned no
overwhelming amount of science or dead languages, but
they did learn good manners and fine needlework.
Beautiful embroidery Sarah Young brought back from
Miss Willard's school, and much of the delicate work
of our grandmothers, still preserved in many of the old
families, was done after the patterns used by Miss
Willard's pu[)lls.
i
390 IlISTOm' OF W'ESTl'Oin'
Among the boys who became famous was William
Greeuough Thayer Shedd who received the degree of
A, M. from the rniversity of Vermont in 1813, tliat of
I). D. from Audover Tlicological Seminary, and of LL.
]^. from t!ie Uiiiveri-ity of New York in later years, was
professor of Sacred Literature, Ecclesiastical History-
and kindred subjects at Andover, Auburn and ]S^ew
York, and published a long and heav\- list of books" on
Philosophy of History, Dogmatic Theology, Doctrim.-
of Endless Punishment, etc. Jolm L. Merriam, in
later years, went to Minnesota, was elected to Congress,
and became Speaker of the House of Pepresentatives.
His son became Governor of the State. Jonathan Tar-
bell was Provisional Governor of the City of New Or-
leans during its occupation by United States troops, in
the Civil War. Edward Samuel Shumway went from
Westport to Middlebury College, graduating in IS'JO,
and spending' the rest of his life as a lawyer in Essex.
Judge James 13. Mclvean of Saratoga, Member of
Congress and first Colonel of the 77th Pegimeut, X. Y.
v., was at one time a student of this academy, as was
also Captain Samuel C. Dwyer, of the HSth.
The name of James W. Eddy shows that this famiU
were now in town, probaltly coming not long before tliis.
The father of James Walker Eddy and Charles Henry
Eddy, afterward so well-known as business men in
Westport, was Justin l^ddy, who came from Pockiug-
ham, \i., having previously lived at Saxtmi Piver, Yt.
He was a lineal descendant of that William Eddy, Vi-
car of St. Dunstau, (.'rauforri, County of Kent, England,
HISTORY OF Wi: ST PORT S91
who was the progt.intor of so many of the Aioerieau
Eddys. The Hou. Matthew H;i]o of Albany was also
a descendant of the Vicar of St. Duustan's. C. H. Edd^-
married ^Marietta Hickolc, but J. W. Eddy remained a
bachelor, and when he died left his property to his
brother,
,The Lecturer "appointed for the ensuing 3'ear" was
Dr. Evander W. liaune}', who h.ad not tlieii been long
in town. He was the sou of Dr. Waitstill Ilaudolph
llLUiuey of Townshend, A't., a man very well-known
throaghoutYermont in those days, with the versatile New
England ability for doing many thing, and doing theni
all well. He practiced as a country doctor, being at
the same time almost continuously in some public of-
fice, rising gradually to be State Senator, and then
Lieutenant Governor. Ele was also a farmer, and a
successful one, as would appear from a remark made
near the end of his life: "it was in a great measure
through the products of the farm that I acquired the
means of giving four of my sons a collegiate, and three
others a medical education, at the same time laying up
something for future necessities." As he had thirteen
children, he might well liave been proud of making
professional men of seven sous. Of the three who were
doctors, two settled for a while in Westpor.t^Dr.Evander
W. liauuey practicing here from 1835 to 1844, and then
removing to New York, while his brother Dr. Henry D.
Kanney succeeded to his practice here, remaining until
1857. I tliink both of the Doctors Ranney lived on
Washington street, in the house which has been ocou-
i
.V.92 IIISTOllY ()F WE ST PORT
]Med almost contituiously since by succeedinL:^ doctors, —
by Dr. Piiclinrdsotj, J)r. Barber and ])r. DeT.ano, au<]
liow by Dr. Holt.
Dr. Evaiider wa.s not the first Eaniiey in town, as Lis
uncle Elenz'ir H. llauney bad been bere at least since
1824, liviuj^ nortb of the bay, ou the present John Brown
farm. Eleazer Eauney and his family were faithful
members of the Congregational church at Wadhanis,
and the church books show that they went away in 1850.
The father of Eleazar, an elder Waitstill, lived with
him, died in 1S39, and was buried at Northwest Bay.
There was another brother of Dr. Evauder who is
known in Westport annals as "Elder Eanney," lieiug
Darwin Harlow Eanney, who graduated from Middle-
bury College in 1835, and came to Westport the same
year, preaching in the Baptist church, and being or-
daiiietl to the Baptist ministry in August. He seems
to have stayed no more than a year. He married Sybil
Hale McKinuey, sister of Norris 3IcKinney.
1 880.
Town Meeting hehl at Spencer's Hotel.
John Chandler. Supervisor.
Diodorus S. Holcomb, Clerk.
Gideon Jrlaminond and Lfwis Cadj, Justices.
Eljfnezer r)oLii;lass. Isaac Stone and Cal viu Angier, As-
sessors.
Marcus J. Hoisington, Collector.
Newton Hays, Alaoson Barber, John Greeley, Jr., Road
Cuninhs.sioui.-is.
IJ. S. Hulcoinb, Aarou B. Mack, Abialhar Pollard. Schcol
Conimissioni'fs.
Joseph R. Delano. Miles M 'F. Sawyer. Kuos S. Warner,
School lur>pcclor^.
i
ursmnr of wKsrrour .".ro
Uezokiab I'arbcr and r>fvi Frisbie. Poor M;istri-s.
Marcus J. Huisiutrt'tn. Alansim Doutmi, John Srunc,
S<-vmour Curtis. Coiistabli's.
Xovvtoii Hays. Scaler of Wei<x!its aiul Measni-es.
I'atlunasters. - Ilorace Ormsby. John Stouc. CbarU's
I'isher. l^evi Frisbie. "Amos Culver. >Files M"F. Sawver.
William Vial!. Isaac D. Lyou. E. U. Rauney, Elijah An.i^icr.
(JeorLje W. Sturtevant. Jason Braman, Jason Duiistor.
Justin Prouty. Bouianiin Cakhvell. JohnLobdell, Johnson
IliU. I'berou Slaughter. Gideon Hammond. Joseph Stacy,
J I-.. Horace Holconib, Soh-mon Slorkwell, Wilson K. Low,
Mises Felt. Joscjih Farnaai. Gcortre Skinner, XatUanii'!
Allen. George Vau>_d)an. Jonathan Cady. Eniorv Mather.
Adjourned to the Inn of H. J. Person.
Hpeucer's Hotel stood whore the Glenwood liin nou'
•itatuls, on the Iiill, at the junction of North and Pleas-
.-iiit .streets. Alexander Spencer had been here since
IS-^r*. There was a Dr. Spencer in this family, (which
is not that of Victor Spencer,) who was a student in
the office of ])r. Wri^dit.
It was about 18:57 tliat tlio Congregational church at
W'adhams was erected, on the to}i of the hill jnst west
'>f the river. In those days it seems to have been al-
most a rule that the churches should 1)e built on the
highest hill-tup available, llerl!apr^ with an idea of let-
ting their light so shine. The same thing may l>e ol'-
f-erved of many of the school houses. Later, this church,
like the Baptist church at the J3ay, was move(Ho lower
ground.Ats.uiie timeuotfarfrouilS7o,on€ winter when the
rixer was frozen, the church menil)ers canie together
with horses and oxen and chains and screws, and all
things needful, and moved the church down the bank,
upon the ice. and across to the opposite side, where it
.••oiv .slai.nls. 'J'iiis was lln- o'llv church rMliJicc in Wad-
/
3ii4 IIISTURY or WKSTl'Uirr
liaiijs until the MethcHlist. l-^piscopal cliuifh w.is built in
i8'j;].
This ye;u' ]jiljcity street was tii^t oponeJ, its exist-
ence up to this time luiviuj^ been only witnessed bv th--
fast yellowing paper of the Ananias map. There wa-s
also another street, which 1il-.s never yet received a nani',-,
thus (leserilioil in thesnr',e\ bill : ''Also uue other road,
beginiiin;^ on the south side of Washiii^tciu stre.ji,
tliirty-sevea and oue-half linlcs from tlio west end of tlu'
Essex Coui>ty Aoadeniv in said viUago of Westport,
running froiu thence soutli fifteen de;^rees, east ninc
chains and rjix links, u;dil it intersects said Liberty
street in s;iid village. Said r(jad to be three rods wid-
at loast."^ ])ated WestjxM't, May -iO, l8o(^ and si-ne.i
by Diadorus S. HoIcon\b, Surveyor, and by the roa.l
commissioners oi the year.
The necessary pernilssiou from the owners of tli.-
land through w]iiel\ the new strt^et was opened is thu-
i^ivt-n : 'd am wiilinL; that the above-iritMitioned roa^l
«>hould lie i>]jenetl a^reeai>le to the abovt^-mentioned sur-
vey bill, with such alterations to l)e made as I hav^^
suggesteil to Mr. Sawyer. ]t is understood that my
father aiul my>,Ldf are not to be at any expensi^ in fenc-
ing any i).irt of said roads." Signed Piatt IJ. Halstead,
May al, iS^JIv Then further : "1 hereby agree to build
the feneu on the side of the road adjoining the land now
occupird by .Tohu Halstead, or that which ho has not-
released his i^Iaim to, mentiont.>d ov descii!)'.'d in th--
witliin surv-v bill."" Sigurd Mih/s MT. Sawver, who
y
iiisronr of ]vi:sTr<>in' hou
ii!avi*iecl the daughter <tf .)oliii llalstt\-id, uml -iPfiiis to
\\n\e been canvi)iL' on Ijix. land.
TtAvn Meetin-i; at the \uu of H. J. IVrsdus. .^ ,. ,
lieuaJLih P. Doujrlass. Supervisor. " ' '
Diodorus S. liuleoaib, Cloi-k.
Cbarles Hatch. Cdlviu .-\ogie!- Joseph [Lirdy. Assessors.
Seymour Curtis, ColU'ctor.
William L. Wad burns. Justice.
Isaac Aldeu. Grauvillo Stoat.', Ihv.ekiuh Barber, K )ad
CumniissioDers.
Miles .M'F. Sa^vyer. .Albert P. Cole. Jasou Dutister.
Sihool Commissioucrs.
Diodorus S. Holcomb. Orsoa Kelloir';, Asahel Lyou.
Sehool luspeetors.
iTorace Holcomb and Coorge D. Reynolds. I'oor Masters.
Seymour Cui-tis. Johu A. ilill, Erastus Lo\eland. ..Man-
son Denton. Constables.
Eiios S. Waruer. Sealer of Wei<^hts aud measures.
Patbmasters.—Alvia Burt, Otis Sheldon, Charles Fish-
^'i-. l^cvi Frisljie. Lorriu Cole, Aaron B. Maek, Williani
\'ia!l. Isaac- I^. Lyon. Noel Merrill, lleary Hoyce. John
Strvfos. WiUiaui \j. Wadhams, John Lock. Joel Finney.
John S. Stanton. Jarcd GoodalL Harvey Smith. Albert
Strai^^'hatD. John Chandh'r. HL-nry Stone. Frederick' T.
Houard. Charles Doty. Lee Prouty"! Dariu.> Merriam. Jn^,-
t j.lj J-'arnatn. Sti-phea Sherman. Williaoi Olds. f]rastus
Lovolaud. Jonathan Cady. ?21isli«i Royue.
Survey of a ntad iu the Iron Ore Tract "from a Keecli
tree o!t the east lim; of Lot No. 47 to beech sa[)liug in
ihf south liue (d' \o. 7." This is a line example of the,
1 indmarL's nfteu iinlieateil by the earlv snrvevm's.
Surely a beeeh s.iplini^ w.is not very satisfaetory as an
i'liibnuii^ monuiuiMit. The writer remembers a ih^ed iu
-sihieli a re)tai)i iMUiudavy vas made to de]»e.'jd upon
y
:i!Hi
iiisTuL'Y (,].' \vi:sri'()}rr
' thefeDCc'-an.uua thcHve-acro lot that was .souo,.l to
coru last year." As tho lot liad been abaudoued to the
loresL years boforo and was overgnnvn witli a tii..
youiig <.rove of pine aud Jiemlook at tlic time at which
It was desired to transfer the land, it was necessary to
supplement the docunieutary evidence witli that of" the
luemory of the Oldest Jnliabitaut.
Tlds is the year that Victoria was proclaimed Queen
oi Lnglaud, and that in which Martin Van Buren was
iiuiu-urated J>reside.,t. At Shelburne Harbor was buiU
the-Lurlington, the largest and fastest steamer yet seen
on the lake, one hundred and ninetv feet long/twentv-
tiye feet wide and nine feet deep, with a speed of fifteen
miles an hour. Her captain w..s llicha.-d W. Sherman
tlio famous "Captain Dick," of whotn President Van
iJuren, often his passenger, said, "He imagines that ail
the world is the deck of a ship, and he the captain"
It was upon.the n.rli,,,tuu that Cliarles Dickens j^assed
through Lake Champhun on his American tour tive
years aft..r iids. The o!d }>lu:uic was just condemned
and for hfteen years the people in Westport saw the
L"rlinjfo>, steaming back and forth upon tbe lake Not
yet were regular landings made in the bav. passen<^ers
^->ing on board in a small boat, although the steanuns
stopped at the wharf at lUrber's Point, and on that
uccount It was common for those who wished to take
the boat to go to the Point for the purpose.
This year the Methodi.st Episcopal church was lin-
isiied and dedicated, tho uiovement for its (uection hav-
ing l.eguu tl.r.e y.ars before. Thr.buihlingeomudtte.
y
jiisro/n' or \vi:srr()irr .v.-^-
v>as. Dr. ])i;iaoru>; Hi)lcoinl», Churl. -s J',. Ilitcli iind Levi
V'risbie, v..\m\ subsci-iptions wei'e U^ be paid "one-foiirtli
ill casli and three fourths in griod merchantable neat-
cattle, grain or ir(»n." The house was about forty b\-
sixty feet iu outsi^le ineasiireni?iit, and builr of .st(nu>
bnnight from Luttou Day i.■^land, four ndles ;!,\\ ay across
Vn.- lake. At thi>, time the ]b-v. Peter C. Oakley was
presiiling eld'';r, and Lewis J'otter and H. Sb:uai-t act-
ed as circuit preachers. Two years afterward ^Vestport
was made a station, with John \V. Belknap]) as station-
ed preacher, and soon after a j)arsonage was built, just
north of the church.
In the Baptist church very important action was
taken in the a(lo|>tion of what they called "the temper-
•ance resolution." It ran as foHows:
"Bescdved that we resolve ourselves into a temper-
ance Church, so that any mcndnn' of the church who
>hall use or trailic iu, or promote the use oi or traillc in
ardent spirits or wines as a beverage, shall be liable to
ial)onr b}- any member of the church who shall be ac-
quainted with tlie fact, and to CAclusion in case of )-e-
fusal to reform." It is evident that this resohitiiui was
iK^t v>''issed without some ditliculty, as it had been uiuler
discussion since April, and it was at least six years
since the national temperance movement mavbe said to
liave begun. There is uo doui)t that drinking habits
wei'e exccedin^-ly prevalent in \Vi-stj)ort as well as in all
other places, as we know too well from accounts with
which we are all fauiiliar. It is startling to read the
(lid ciiurch lci.-oi-(,!>, and Uol- thr \a\■•'^' iMoooilion of,
mts iiisToL'Y or wrsrroirr
oases ul' (li uiiKt'iaioss which eauie undrr the rcin'oba-
tioii of the chtu-rh, showiui^ that citiisciontioas peojil-^
were lal)r)iiii^ faithfully ac^^ainst ovorwhehning OvM<.
Tlieio is a hoicibh.' ston' toKl of some on.' of the ohhT
ottoLul.'rs (hut tiot a (■hnich ineinb.M-,' sittinf,' at tli--
tahle one niglit lh■illkil);^^ iieai- the eiul of a i)fol(Jii^e.l
pei-ioil of iiulii!i;(;i}ce, leachiui^ U)V his botllo with his
ai'in clos. : io thr! tiaiue of the; caDuie, aiul seeiuij; a !)lu'>
fiarue run up his arm as thoe.^^h the bhi/.e liail touehel
the surface of alcohol. It is added that the horror of
the siorht led to the druuk/ud's refonnatiou and wheth-
er it l>e lifei-dly true, or invented l>y some one who h i;t
just read Dickens' "-Bleak House,"' in which the case of
s[K)utaneons eombastion is so subtly anil powerfulK
niana<;;ed. the story goes to show somethin^^ of the con-
ditions needing reformation. When the l^ijitist church
adopted the temperance resolution, the pastor was the
Kev. Cyrus -W. Hodgos, the church clerk Joel A.' CaU
hoon, and the doacoiis Gid.-on ILimmond and George
Jk llevuolds.
Town Meeting In-hl at H. .1. Persou.s.
Jiibu ChaiuUor, Supervisor.
D. S. llolcoaib. Clerk.
Diodorus iIolcoii»b. Justice.
Iku-Dabas Myrii-k. Alausuu rMU-l>er. Jose[>h R rKdaiio,
As.ses.su rs.
S«'yinour Curtis. CnlK-ctor.
(iraiiville Stoii»<. tlc/.i'Kiah Ikirber. Jason Brainan. floai.l
ConunissiotwM's.
Ira ![f!Hl.-i-s..n. .A-ah.'l f.vou. Wtlliaiu Frlsbie. Sa-Ii->.'1
Conuei>s;,.n.,T..,
//isrn/n' or ]y/:sTrr/j:T son
iJavki M. Sayrr. T. li D.^lun... Mil-.s MF. Sawv,-!-. Srh(M,l
1 uspectors.
Calvia An.i/ier and Jaruos W. ('u;t. Poor .Mar^tor>,
Soyiiiour Curtis, Krastus r.i~;V('l;!iid. Alans(;i) DcntDii.
C.nstables.
S.-u-ail Cutlia,":. S^'aK-r uf WriL^bts a'ld .Moasaii's.
ruthmasters, — Itdph ]li,i,'ai av. M 1L. TWd. flarry Culc
N'wron Flays. H. J. Persons;. William \'ial!. .Idaatiiari
M iieoinb. Asahtd LyoQ. Lutlicr .\u\:wv. Cn^nv^,.^ W.SturLc-
vaiit. Kii Wood. David M. Sayn-. Au<^iistus Hdl. Orrin
^idnr.cr. .lo^ltua Slaun;i;tf'r. Joliason IlilL Leonard Xw-vy.
Joliii Cbciudler. Alou/.o S!auj.dittM-. Jaiuos McCoid(>\. Kzo-
kirl }'au^d>urti. T.ee Prouty. Mose.s tVU. Jdscpli Farnaiii.
S:.'[)b('ii Shertiiaii. Williutu Olds. Leonard Ware. .Toiiathai.
("ady. JoiiQ Stone, iinrl .Mr. Ivui:/iits,
111 t-lie dreary obscurity of the dc-scrlptious of the road
~urveys we catch siud; woiils au(] {dirases a.s •'the Jviui;-
(hun," '"the l>ridii;e oti the 'J\)\vu I.iitie e;ist of Lidjdnll
and Mvrick'.s forge," "Storrs and Hatch's iov^v," with
*-Mme locality uijerriuL,dy determined by '"the small
l.r-.ok southeasterly td' Paddock :\rcGuyei's h<uise."'
The surveyor wa< Piatt P. IJaUiead. Th-- .Justices
were Diodorus Kulc(;nib, Williaiij L. V,'adli;Mii.-> antl Ira
jj-'i'.dersou. 'J lie Ma nil;er of Asseujbly- fvoiu uur ilis-
friet \\ as (xideoi) Hiunmond.
]SM8 was the year of the "Pafiueaii War" in C'a.ii;)da.
.It was no great coutiict, but uur tnwii lay near enough
ti> the froutier to share a little (•! the exicitenit-nt, and
renewed attentiou was paid to ndlitary uiatters. The
militia trainings had fallt-n somewhat i!ito negU-ct, Imt
now behold our martial youth on.-e moie arrayed for
eoii(|utjst, and fornied into .in artillery i'om]»any, of
which Asahel Lyon was the captain, while llaiiy .T.
J'")>o!i was (•o](;m,^| (;f th.- ifgiim-ut. Tin- 'j,tMj.'ra] iiin.—
400
nisToRY OF \vi:sTj'<)irr
tei- xvas at l.uko Croor-e ni this time. The Westpuit
coinpanv eunsisteJ of thirty uv forty luou, but the oiily
n.-Uii..s .^iven me are those of EamimJ J. Smith, Jam,A
A. Allen ami Etlwiu iVison, sou of the colonel. Th.^v
were never called forth to f.^ht. and so never becam".-
fuuious, but thoy ,>une.l a real cannon, ].robabiv the
hrst one seen in town .inc.. Gov. Tou)|.kin.s order..]
cannon s.-nt in to iho arsenal at Pleasant Yjllev bv way
of Northwest ]iay. This piece of ordnance ligui^d at
celebrations for many year.^ afterward, and at last burst
lu an excess of enthusiasm on some Fourth (.f Jul v.
^Before the Canadian troubles were settled, Gen.
Wmtield Scott was .stmt into Canada by our government
t" iiitiuire into matters a litth>. He went north in the
winter, by the line .)f stages which Peter Comstock had
t^•u•|y established between Xew York and Montreal, and
passed through Westport, stopping at H. J. J'erson"s
hotel. This, of course, was a great event, and it is t..
1'*^ linpcd th;it there was not a boy in the village who
iiad not sulHcient spirit to try to get a look arthe fa-
mous general. Among the many stoiies of thi.s period
in regard tr> the .sympathy felt with the rebellious col-
onists among a people who had within twentv-tive rears
fought w.th England thenr.ehe.s, is one which \[rs.
A\illiam (1. Hunter told me, (fifty years afterward,) of
the .hiver bringing his sleigh around to the door for
the General to resume his journey to Canada, and ob-
s.>rving that it seemed unnaturally heavy. On examin-
ation it was found that muskets had been packed iu the
b-ttom of the .I.-i^ii and covered with the butlalo roLe>
niSTuUY OF WK.srrORT 401
by souie Cauadiau sympathizer, ^\•VJO intended thus to
send them across the Hue to tuo insurgents. Mrs. Hun-
ter added that there was no reason for believing the
story, wliich was probably invented long after Gen.
Scott had disap[)eared upon the snowy horizon, but
that it showed tlie kind of tictiou which was then.
popular among the groups of men who lounged
around the stove in tlie liar-room or the store.
This was the year in which tlie Hunters tirst came
from Boston, bought laud on North Shore and built the
house at Hunter's Bay which was burned in 1875. ^Yil-
liam Guy Hunter was born in 1798, and was therefore a
man of forty wlien he came to Westport. He had been
a sergeant in the war of 1812, and had afterward spent
three years at the West Point Military Academy. His
father William Hunter, had fought in the Revolution,
sharing in the retreat from Quebec in the summer of
1776, and thus being the first of the famil}- to see our
North Shore, as he passed it in the Continental army.
His father, David, was the son of Jonathan Hunter, who
came from England to xVmerica in the earlier years of
the eighteenth century, and married Hopestill Hamlin,
of llochester, Mass.
Doubtless the first attraction to the ])lace for Mr.
Hunter was the residence here of his elder sister, Mrs.
Sewall Cutting, who had come with her family in 1823.
Another sister, Mrs. Aiken, came soon afterward. Mr.
Hunter soim became one with the country people, took
an active part in public atVairs, and was, after a few
ytjars, elected su[)ervisi.>r of the tu.Mi. Many sLoiicr^ <'l
402 ITJSrORY OF Wi: ST POUT
Ijis words ami ways are still told, aucl sncli vrn.s liis
fame as a conversationalist that a myth-uialciug process
has now begun, attributing any witty or shrewd remark
which is recognized as especially applicable to West-
})ort or to Westport people, to i\Ir. Hunter. In this
way some apocryphid tales are told, but one saying of
liis we can vouch for as authentic, made in reference to
isorae man his opinion of whom had been asked. ""Well,"
ir said Mr. Hunter, "in the sight of man he passes for a
Si ])retty straight, upright kind of a fellow; in the sight of
(i God I am 'afraid he wiggles a little." This has tiie true
Hunteresquellavor — som.ething which no one else would
ever have thought of saying.
Mr. Hunter's wife was Elizabeth AVilson, who was
onU' twenty-three when they came to "Westi-iort. Her
sister Sarah, six years younger, soon visited her, and
was accustomed to ride about tlie country on horse-
back. She often told of lier first meeting with Louis
Agassiz, the great naturalist, in the solitary road which
])ierces the forest of North Shore, and of his astonish-
ment at meeting there a young girl on horseback, en-
tirelv unattended. He was then not long from Switz-
erland, and had come from Cambridge to visit Mr.
Hunter. ^Nliss Sarah Wilson afterward married Col.
Francis L. Lee, of Boston, whose father was a wealth}'
East Lulia merchant, and it was in 1848 that they built
their sumuier home on a hill north of the Eay, over-
looking a glorious view of the lake and mountains, and
•.called it Stony Sidt^.
It was in 18U8 that David Turner, then in the news-
HISTORY OF WE ST FORT -f03
paper office at Kecsoville, tells of a visit to Elkanali
Watson at Port Kent.
"It was here the writer of this narrative ImJ the
lioiior'to visit this venerable man at his fine stone man-
si'>u, and listen to his description of events from the
Revolationarv war up to that time ; his journey to
France and London, and the story of Copley ])ainting
liis portrait, which then hnug on the wall before me.
It was here I met the then President of the United-
States, Martiu Van Bureu, John, his son, Henry Cla}-,
(Jovernor Silas Wright, and other prominent men of
tliat day, who had called to pay their respects to the
distinguished agriculturist and philanthropist. He had
then reached his eightieth year."
This gives an interesting glimpse of the people who
might be met on the passenger steamers and packet
bo;its of the lake and the canal, in the leisurely jour-
ney from the waters of the Hadson. Many stories ar^'
told of the pleasure of these journeys, and their social
possibilities, which were akin to the opportunities of-
fered by a voyage at sea. Martin Van Bureu, — the
little Magician, the Fox of Kinderhook, — often made
the trip from his mansion at Kinderhook, on the Hud-
son, to Lake Champlaiu, and was often the travelling
companion of the Hunters. He was then a widower
pa.st fifty, a man of wealth, a successful lawyer and pol-
itician, who looked on the world from the President's
chair. It is said that Miss Sarah Wilson might have
l)fcome Mrs. Martin Van Bui en if she iiad not preferred
rnrecouu' ^Irs. Francis L. Lot.-.
4114 insTORY OF WEsrroirr
It was tliis year that navigation on tiic lake was fa-
cilitated by tlje erection of tbo first liglit-lionses, at
Cumberland Head and Split Eock.
It« seems to have been at this period that the first in-
vestment of Boston capH;il in Essex connty iron mines
was made, as this year the Cheever ore bed, then al-
most entirely undeveloped, was sold to Mr. Horace
Grey of IJoston. From this time niitil after the war
.the property was in the hands of, as Watson says, "an
incorporated organization composed of gentlemen of
afliueuce residinu in Massachusetts."
1889.
Town Meethig held at the Inn of H. J. Person.
.Bonajah P. Doui^lass, Supervisor.
Franklin H. Cutting. Clerk.
John ft. IjOw. Justice of the Peace.
Plait ii. llalstcad, John Chaudlei-. Joseph Hardy, Asses-
sors.
Seymour Curtis, Collector.
Alansou Barber, H. J. Person, Jasou Brainan, Road
Commissioners.
Ira Henderson, Aaron B. Mack, ^Villiam L. Wadbams,
School Commissioners.
D. S. Holeomb, Evand.r W. Rauney, T). H. Sayre. Scbool
Inspectors.
James W. Coll and CaKio Ati>2rier, Poor Masters.
Seymour Curtis, J. F. Brush, Henry Stone, E. H. Coll,
Sewall Cutting,'. Constables.
James' Walker Eddy, Scaler of Wei^^dits and Measures.
Pathmasters. — AppoUos Williams. Ji-.. Otis Sheldon.
Samuel Ri'ot. Tillinirhast Cole, Cyrus Richaids. llai'vey
Pierce. bJaruabasMyrickDiodorus Holeomb. PMeu/.er H. Ran-
ney, James Marshall. (ieoi'^'eW.Slurtevant, Eli Wood, Jason
- DuDster. Joel K. Freneh. (.'eori^ro Skinnci-. Nathan Slauirb-
^TTt, Ephraim Bull, Jr.. E. B. Nichols, John Chandler,
IIISTORX OF WKSiroRT '!".'>
Willfam Stacy, William IVrkius, Solomoa Stoekwell, John
Lewis. Jr.. Muses F.ilt. Joseph i'arnam, Josliua .Shiui,'h-
tof, H. P. Do'Jirlass, Ei-astus Lovelaud, Joiiatluin Cady,
John .Stone. Jainr-s Bartlett.
In December of this year Charles B. Hatch was ap-
pointed Tou-o Clerk in place of F. H. Cuttini'-, who had re-
.si;^'^ued.
lu tlie summer of 1S39 the Baptist church was moved
froTii the top of the hill on Washington street to the lot
upon Main street upon which stands the present edi-
fice. This lot had been owned by the church since
ISoti, and it is evident that there had been from tiiat
time au intention to move the building ui)0ii it, since
the house had never been finished where it first stood.
After it rested upon its new foundations, close upon the
street, new floors wore put in, with siity-four pews,
which According to the custom then prevailing, were
rented for a fixed sum each. The building was painted
white, with green blinds, and as it was a large square
house, with a lai-ge srpiare belf)y at one end of the voo{,
it was gazed upon with intense satisfaction b}^ every-
one who h;id bad a hand in its construction, as a per-
fect example of the most recent and approved ideas of
ecclesiastical architecture. The pulpit stood on a high
platform at the western end, and the choir sang in au
alcove op}H)site. Xo doulit at first the cus-
tom of the audience facing about with faces to the choir
and backs to the minister while the hymn was being
.sung, may have been followed, but w;is given up in the
next generation. There was a large basement for prayer
meetings and Sunday school, and the new church was
af"mwe the center of a busy social life. Two hundred
Kni iiisToh'Y OF wKSTroirr
aiul twfuty-scvpu members \\ere rcporteil tLis yedr to
the A>soci;iti()U, u iiiunber which has never since been
rxoeedfih The pastor at this time was the ]le^■. C3"nis
"\V. Hoil<^'es, tlie church clerk William J. Cutting, and
the trustees elected since 1830 were Caleb P. Cole,
Norris McKinue}', Calvin ami Elijah Augier, Evamler
AV. Ilannoy, "William J. Cutting, Alexander Young and
Aaron H. Mark. That the M. E. church was also in a
jirosperous condition is slxnvu by the fact that this vear
the first statiuued jtreacher was assigned to tliu })lact',
the Ivev. John \V. Belknapp. Measures were taken for
building a ]iarsonage, which were consummated some-
what latei-.
Just coming into use was a now invention, that of
maile euvelo)>es into which haters were put before they
wei'e sent. Up to this time a ]iart of the education of
every child in an e iucat^^d family was the intricate
folding (if a written h-tttr so that a blank .-^pace should
be presented tm th.e outside upon ^^hich to write the
addi-ess. Postage was still so high that letters were a
luxury, unless an absolute necessity, and with the new-
fashioned envehipes, sealing w.ix was used fo)" closing
them. Steel jicns had been invented about ten years
before this, but were by no means it) common use.
This vear Cyrenus IXoekwell I*avne came to Wad-
ham's ]^Iills from l>rord<field where his father, Joseph
Payne, had settled in 1807. He opened a shoe sho}>
aijd afterward built the brick house which is still owned
in the family. His first wife was Eliza French, daugh-
%**»of Joel French, and their children were : On-in, who
jiLsroRY or WL'srruirr -ioj
ilieJ lit the age of sixteen. Delia, uianieJ Jiuld Sayre,
now of lowjt. Joel Osborne, '/lio livod in WliGclint^,
West Virginia, and amassed a large fortune, dyin;j; iu
1890. Seward Quiney, now living iu South Dakota.
Daniel Saflord French J^ayne has always lived at Wad-
Ijaiu's Mills, ca)'rying on the nulls and forge for many
years, and tloiug a large business iu iron and lumber.
The ;eeond wife of Cyrenus 11. Payne was Mrs. Lueinda
(Boutwelli Stone, and their children were twin daugh-
ters, Lueinda and Cornelia,
1 8-10.
Town Meetiuj^f at 11. J. Person.
Barnabas Mvrick. Super\isor.
.Tames \V. Eddy, Clerk.
Ira Henderson. Justice.
Joseph R. Delano. Aaron B. >Taek, Levi Frisbie. Asses-
sors.
Guy Stevens, Collector.
Samuel Storrs. Otis Sheldon. William Viall. Fioad Com-
missioners.
Asabel Havens. David H. Sayre, Albert P. Cole. School
Connnissloners.
A. M. Olds. Joel K. French, D. S. Holcomb. Sehool Tti-
spectors.
James \V. Coll and Stephen Sayre. Poor Masters.
Guy Stevens. Jared Goodell. Seymour Curtis. L. W.
Pollard, Constables.
Charles ihiti-h, Sealer of \Veij.,dits and Measures.
Pathmastei-s.— Jo.seph Pi^^ulow. E. H. Coll. James W.
Coll, John Ferris. David Poixers, Charles Hatch, Barnabas
Myriek. Asa Lovt-laud. Smith Mooi-e. Htmry Royce, Georg(>
\\. Sliirtevaiit. Horace Holeornb. Benjamin PTardy. Joel B.
.Bhiuiiey. Jason Bruman, Charles Cady, Johjisou Hill,
fjeonard Averv, Luther B. Ihimmond, Charles Stacy. Alvin
it. Sulomon Sti^ekwt.^11. Lee Pioiitv. Aliram Sherman,
-lOS HISTORY (>F Wi'.STl'onT
Cah in C. Aii;^Mor. Vrilliain P W-.^st. W. P. Dvui^^'lii^s.Geori'O
Vaii.ijLian. John Lewis. Jr., Jcilm Stone. James Bartlett.
This your I'lat! P. MalsU'ud .->urvt>yt'(l '"u piavate road
for William (iiiy fluiitLT," from (.-(irnor lot No. 1, Taylor
and Keml)le, '"to tlic cleared fields.""
Another road bi-^rau "•on the lake road south of the Ore
Ped House, ruiuiiu^' fifty links easterly of the north point
of a led;;e of rot-ks there, due north tii Joseph Orrnsbee's
houth line,"' to "an east and west road." Abraham Stone.
Surveyor. There was an alteration of a road "leading'
from the Con;:rc,fiationa! mcotin;.r . house at Wadham's
Mills to the road leading from North West Bay to Pleasant
Valley.'" Joel K. French, Surveyor.
The name of Abram Sherman among the pathmas-
ters leealls tiie fact that this family had not been long
iu ^\"'cstp(•»•t. Humphrey Sherman, father of Abram,
was boi-n in ^^'llite Creek, Washington county, in 17S0,
and probably came into Essex county early in the nine-
teenth century. His brother Nathan, progenitor of the
jNIoriah Shermans so closely connected with the history
of the ]Mt>riah iron mines, was elected the first town
clerk of ]Mi>ri:ih in ISOS.anJ it is likely that Humphrey
Sherman came into Brookfield at nearly the same time.
He married Anno Keynolds, born in Dutchess county,
a sister of Abraham l\eyuolds, "the patriarch of Brook-
field." Their children were :
1. Morris, married Louise Dunster; children, Ellery
and Carroll.
2. Humjihrey, m;irried .^b•u■y Hardy; chihlren, Har-
vey and Hardy, \\'alter.
;{. Abram, married Kli/.a Smitli ; children, Abram,
Cleorge, Frank, Alfred, Eliza, Emma.
4. Charlotte married a P(jnjerov.
'^oT Christiann married "Morrill Gil.>bs.
Jiisroin- OF \v/:sr/>/)!:T
' ' 40f)
('}. Titus GL'uvL^'e, lUiii-rioil l\vrtlieiii;i, d;int;htor of
'JMlOluas ShfKloii eif Essex. lie \\;is comiiiissiuli'Ml ]•'!!-
>i^LiU ill 1^40, Lit'uteiiaiit in lS^i>, and C'ai)taiu in iSl'j,
oi tho 37th vPL^inient, X. Y. 8. :\r.. Col. .JoUv.. L. Mei--
riam; ,iOth Ijvipjade, Gon. William S. !\[t'iiiani. A son
"f ('a])tain Titus Slierniaii, Hiniry l)l)n\^•, nianii.^d Sally
]\[aria Wliitiioy. dan'j;1itf-r oF Liicin.s "Whitm^v of Esse.x.
Tlieiv daup,litrr Cora, bdiii in Essex. Aug. J 5, 1809,
inari-ipd at Essex, XdV. lo, L^^TO, Ilonvy Kavnion Noble,
I'drn ISGl^ sou of ILarnton X(>!)leof Essex. Tlieii- eliil-
dren, all bofu in Essex, are ; E John Harmon, born
Sept. G, LSSS. 2. Eaura Anne, born Oelober 2"), 188'.).
:;. KatLerine Eutli. Imuu O.t. 2. 1802. ^^Lr. Henry
llarnion Xolile li;is bi-en emj-loyed in tin- otlife of tie-
State Historian at Albany since Sept. 4, 189.". ; Chief
Clerk since ^Jard; 1, 1900. .Vnotherson of Capt. Titus
Sherman is A.delbert, married Susiiu Coll.
There were other Siiermaiis in \\'e.stport, living' in tlu^
south part of the town, nnudi earlier than this family
of Humphry Shermari, Imt 1 have not bet'U so fortumUe
as to tind any (uie who ct.uld name untt) me their gen-
erations. In 181.") our Stacy brook is callfd in the t(<wn
records "the Sherman Inook," dcud.ith'ss after a man
who lived m-ar it, and afterward wi' find Elijah, Hollis
.and Ste|)ln'n Sherman named.
Tliis year Arclub aid PattistMi earn.- froai ^^^lshi^gt )n
t'oimty and st.'tth'l on the lake ro id. on Et^sshoro, re-
moving in later life to the villag.?. Hi>. wif.' was 3E.'-
Jiitabl^ Pratt, and thev had four sons.
Israel niarrietl Eleanor Coll, d iiijrhtf)- ^>i Jame-> \\ .
410 [iisTi)i:y OF WKsrrnirr
Coll. Ger)rL;e married C.itlu'fiiio, daui^Utei- of AtkIlow
Frisbie. Charles married June, daughter of Col. Sam-
uel Root. AVarreu married Hattie, dauf^hter of Fred-
erick Kitmey. Sarah, an adopted dauL^diter, married
Hosea Howard.
T!ie "hard cider" camj-)aiga of Harris' /u this fall was
characterized by so many excesses that a strong reac-
tion set in in favor of the ti'mperauce reform movement,
which from this time forward gained steadily in stren;j;th.
In a history of navigation o)i the lake published in
the A'ernKDtit Historical 3iagazine, the term of service
of Phiueas Darfeu as steaml>oat pilot is given as from
18-25 to 1810, therefore he probably retired to his home
in Westport this year. He was one of the best pilots
on the lake, serving with Captains Sherman and Lith-
ro'p, and it was said that no eye was so keeu'as hi.-^ in
darkness oi- fog. A st'jry is told of one fo;.;gy niglit
wiien the regidar i)ilot became l>ewildered, and con-
fessed that he did n'>tkuow which way to steer. Captain
Lathrop knew that Pliin Dnrfce was (ju VK')ard, asleep
in his berth, and had him called. Durfee instantly ttjok
the wheel, turned the steanjer half w.-iy around and
rniig the btdl t(j go ahead with the most perfect confi-
dence, saying that they were only a little way out of
tiie channel near Isle la Motte, wlii(-h jn-oved to l>e the
ca-;e. He died in the house oi Jatues A. Allen, and his
•watchers still remember that after his death his eyes
refused to chjse in spite of all tln.-ir etlorts, seeming to
the last still tix>'d in an etlort in ])ierce that darkness
'■■*t?iiieh covers th«'. waves of cttniiitv.
jiisroKY OF ]\'/:srrnjrr f/i
SylvostiT "ii'DUiiL^ first came in ISiU. iiis ;tucrstiy i-;
im)st iitmsunl ;iiul iiifevf-stiii^. Nine niitcli bcdtliris
(.•.tine from Holljiml to tlic HmUou river liefore the J{e\-
olutiou. AVht'M anmist;ik:iVile s^i^iiis of the tiiufs imli-
c.-ited the near a[)proach of that coTitlict, th^y. havin;^
no (.Icekh'il syiin>athies with either siih' nf the (jUarroh
louioveil into Ca.uada, ami setthnl at Novati, province
of (^iiehec, on Mij^sissqiioi I* ly. The fatlier oF Sylves-
ter was Jacol). After Sylvester Young came into town
he engaged in clearing wood from tlie land of "William
(Jny Hunter on North Shore. Iii ISJ:^ he married
Kli/,a Angier, eldest daughter of Calvin aiul returned
ti. Noyau, P. Q.. remaining there a year, jiving in Essex
six, and returning to Westport in 18]'.'. Sylvester
'^'oung w as long a prominent nieinber of tiie (^)ngrega-
tional ehnrch at Wadham.s. Hi>> daughter M.-iry mai-
ried Heniy Eastman, and tiieir childien aie ]jizxie,now
^Irs. .\.<hanis, Sylvester, ]Mary ami George. ^lis^; 'Sliiv-
tha Young has been of the greatest assi.stuuee in giving
infovmatioij about the families of Young ami Angier.
Another family coming iu fiou) Canada, though some-
what previous to this year, was that of Warren Clilihs.
His wife was Abigail C. Morrill. They settled in tlie
north-eastern part of the town, in the neighborhood
known as "Angier Hill," on the ^'ine place, in the house
which w.as burned in 11>00. In the census taken this
year, /1810.) the family of Warren Gibb.s. oonsi>tijig of
Idniself, his wife, huirteen children, ami , an aged parent.
bore the distinction of being the largest in thf^ county.
He ;jijtrThs sons wej'c s'siilod n:a-(»n^, iDiA niuidi of tin-
-/2i> HISTORY OF \yKsrroirr
finest work in town was dono by their liautls. Tlies-i
are the family names ;
1. Luoy, raari-iod Arteinas S. Kartwt-ll.
2. Morrill, UiarrieJ Christiann Siieriuan.
3. Hiram, married ^Melissa Lock.
4. 3lilo, married Mary Estey.
5. Loren7,o, married Mary Ann Anf^ier.
G. Abigail, ujan'ied Orson Bennett.
7. Orange, married M^abala Morrill.
S. Emmons, drowned in California when a yonnjjc
num. . i.ii
9. Jane, married Merlin Angier.
10. Ann, married, 1st, S, K. Wells, 2ud, Samuvl,
Huntington of Burlin<i;ton.
11. Mary, married A. J. Howaul of Burlington.
12. Eli/.a, marriod B, D. Stevens.
33. !Nelson J., (born IS-IO,) married, 1st, Theresa
Clark; 2nd, Jennie Bichards.
(Oua child died as an infant, makinf^ tbtv fnll r<uml>^r
foartceii.)
1841.
To^^•n >b:'etff(ir held ut the Ina o.^ H. J. IVi-soo^
Joseph R. Delano, Supervisor.
Dau (.1. Koui, Clerk.
Joel Iv. t'rench, J iistiee.
Heurv Stone. Collector.
Alaus(Ui BuYbcr, Aaron R. Mw-k, Wilbum naH. As.ses^
.s<>rs.
Jas(»u r.rainan. Samuel S-torrs, Jainos. \V. Coll, Iloini
CominissioutM's.
C. P. Cadv. Sainuel Root, 0.. S. .\lebe<-d, S^-hooj Comr.nU-
sioii.'rs.
j//sTo/:y or wr.srroirr '■■,. . 4i3
A. M. OlJs, John H. Low, Evander W. Kaunov. Schoul
Juspcclors.
JoLu Giroloy. Jr.. and Albert P. Cole. Poor Masters.
Ha.rry X. Colo, .Tohn Look. Henry Stoue. Constables.
William Mchityre, '.Scaler o-f Wei.irhts and Measures.
I'athrnasters. — Josepli i5ii,'eio\v. .\l]>hei!s Stone, A. Pat-
liM.n. lU/.-kiah Barber. Caleb P. Cole. Wiliiam J. Cuttin^r,
William Melnivrr. John .MitL-hell. Williani <;. Hunter.
Lutbi-i- An^rier.Vieor^'e W. Sturtcvaiit. \V. L. Wadbams.
Kdvvard CoUniru. Eiijab Wrii^'bt. (ieurge Skinner. Willard
llartwell. Justus TJarriss. Henry Drapei-, Plutt. Sbeldon.
Tbarles U. Stiiev". Tbomas B. Lock. Rufiis Parr, Giles
>,!;urtlitf. Moses'FeU, Morrill Gibbs. W. C. West. Peubeii
Bi'owa. Erasliis Lovoland. John Ferris. Samuel A ndersion.
Jt-babod Hartlett.
^'oted that fifty dollars t)e rai-^ed for mat. or Town Plot,
Now we come to sonietbing trnly interestii-.g— Wet^t-
]H:rj-t's first uewspnper. The first number was publi-shed
Au,i;nst 4, 1841, by Ansoii H. Alleii,^ south of H. J.
Person's hotel," ami its name was "Th>- Kyxc.r (r>in,t;i
'riiiii'x n„il ll'rs/i^orf Iltrolfi:' Tlie first part of the
iiaiae seems to be a perpetiiatioi <>f that of (he Ehza-
liethtown paper published for a short time by R. W.
LiviuLjston, but the second part is all oar own. It was
•Anson If Allen was born in Palatine, N'. Y in iSo6f, lenrned the prlntei's trad«
■in MidJlcUurv, V't., and v-'asin tiit: HeralJ oibcK in Kecsevilie in 18^7. In iS4i Ue
•took the -cen-SiUS ct Essex <onntv, a n<i so,nc erperierce of iii< in tne wild hici
•country ga'. e ri>e to t^e popular <ioy:<<-erel exiled ''A!lc:i'.- Be?r Fii;ht.." t\;-o !;nes
of uhlch axe. —
'•O Ciod he c-lfd 'n de- p dei-p li^,
{£ voudnn't help me. don't help Ci.e hear ."*
from iN^i t . '*» I he puhlished the Esuex Cptiate Tiiie-f in \Vf=tf.>rt; aK'crward
la Keev;e%ilic and Saratoga, he puhlisht^i a in 'nthlv rolled "-The (.>IJ SrtiUr,"
■ilevored to e.arlv stories of this rejfion, of v.-lMch i' ie a pitv tha;t; so fcA- now re-
main. W'ht-n t».e Kiinter hoiis« was burned, cne lus^ which Mrs tfuntcr decpiv
iainrnted ».MS that ot h.a.-reU of o;il papers, with a coiKplt.t<; file of Allen's "Oi'>/
Although no name hut ihst of Anson H. Allen i* given upon the paper, wc
inov/ that r^aifc^ Turner wis associated with him fii>.-.i the lirst, fro::i the ia-rter's
J- ;i ,,tutc-i:'e:'t -n j l>.r;-r nu:)i,'^bed .in ll'c [^.lir^letruozLit Po.-/ a .few vr;jrs helorp
n-t msTonr of \vi:sTro!tT
a very respectable four-p.iLi;e sl}eet, t\s ma}- be seen by
the four or five copies which iiave uot gone long ago to
kindle tires. There have been preservetl, and arc now
in Westport, four copies, from tlie years lS41-4:2-43
and ISli, an.l the writer has examined another printed
in 1813, owned by >[r. Henry McLauglilin of Moriaii.
The earliest number still })reserved is dated Wednes-
day, Oct. i:;, isii.
The literary portion, made up of selected articles, the
foreign news, brought across the ocean on the steam -
shi}> Ai-oiHn, and the notes of national events, as the
(•o]]cludiug scenes of tb.e "Patriot War"' in Canada, are
not so interesting as the home advertisements, ^^'o
notice in the Democratic nominations tbename of James
Walker Eddy for Coroner. The editor is indebted to
Capt. E. W. Sherman of the steamer UnrHixjict for late
copies of lioston, Xew York and Montreal papers.
We find "ads" of tive dit;"ereiit business tirms in the
village of Westport. William and Cyrus Pilchards
•'would most resjiectfally inform the public and th^:ir
friends that the}' still continue in business at their t)ld
his death: "In iS4i I left Keeseville for Westport to assist Anson H AHen in tlic
pubUcalion of thiit illublrious iiterary prodaction, T/ik WesCfort Timet. Mere I
remain eight ye-irs, then rtinoveil family and prinlmjj oflioe to the county st.it."
David Turner was born in Hull, Knghmd, in iSio, and f.rst cause into Essex county
in ''^.57t working in the printing o.fice at SCceseviilf. Frojn i"^4i to 1S49, as he
>ays, he liveil in Westport, thi.Ti in Eliiabethtown for ten years or more, inovin;^
about 1^0 to Washington, where he died in 1900. rSe had an especial fon(lnes«;
lor the history .md t'lie Irjjends cf Essex c'.intv, often writing; articles upon such
topics for the local oress. His wife w.is Klv.a 1. Ciincron, of Scotch descent. His
son, Ross Sterlinir Turner, thff Bo<-tor artist, -vas b >rn in Westport June 27, \^.\~.
Three <itlier scn*^ are Byron Po.od Inrncr, of the Civil Service Commission at
Vl^^.hu'.^r.. „. J ,v.,et C. T .rnf r . ( C • -.ei-mu, .ind L-.j.- .M. Turner nf New Vcri;.
Ill STORY or wr.sri'oirr -/ir,
stanJ, tlu- D()U^i;l;iss«tcu-f." They keep on liainl '"a i^,.']\-
oral assoitiiiont of Dry (roods, Grocciics. Cvocl<t^ry,
H;ir(hv;n-e, Oils, i^unts, Af.'" WiUi.-nn J. AFianklii-
11. Ciittiiju- auuouiicp thai they "will ]u'ie.il't*r sell njicii
the C'-is'i and Short Cifdit System, a.nd !ia\-n tixcl ui.on
tlie followiun; prices," whicli are chiell\ iMtt'restiii;^ from
tlie fact tliat they are ex [tressed lu shilliiii^s and pence,
as t\vo^philliuj;s and sixptmee a gallcii hn- molassos.
They also offer cash for "suiooth, flat ami s(jii;ire r>ar
Iron." Hfirvey Pierce "feels grateful for ])ast favors,
;ii)d for so liberal a sliari^ of the ])nl>lic patrona^'e, and
w(Mdd inform tin- citizens of AVest[>ort and it-^ vicinity
that he k^eps constantly on hand a i^tMieral assortnn'tit of
Choice Goods, wliich he will sell a little Cheaper than
his neigliboi-.-? !" Eddy A: Kent "are constantly receiv-
inj^ a generid assortn)ent of ]''ancv A' Staple Cioods,"
anion;.;- which are stone clinrns and "sad irons, "aiid will
take "all kinds of crmntry produce at the hi,i:;liest pri-
ces." Anofher tirn], Keiit A' Felt, "continue to carry on
the Hatting Viusiness at tlieir old stand near tlie Bridge,
and keep on liand a gocnl assortment of well-made Hats,
of the latest Fashion, which they would like to t-\:change
for Sheep Pelts, Sheared and Pulled Famb's Wool,
Hatting and Shijiping Furs, and most kinds of Pro-
duce." All show the prevalence of barter in trade, and
the Very editor liimself adv(M"tiscs patent nieilicines for
sale!
At Wadhams Mills, If. A J. I^)raman have a good se-
lection of ])ry (ioi-ids for the country trade, and a g(»od
.•iSM.rtment of Straw l/.onnets, of djjh-r'iit (jualitic.-, ;
4jf: msTi'un' OF wi'sTi'or.T
als(^, Vai'i. 'jilted Cotey Hats iukI Hoods," wliirh show-;
that ill thos.> days the women wo\x- uot [jroviiled with a
niilliiier to sell thcin heail-gear, bat went ti> the goneial
store and asked to seo the tinery that the sto^e-kee^)^'r
brou<;ht home with him the List time he went south.
It would seeni tliat Wadhams w as then the centre eif
fusliion, for one ^[ic-hael O'Sullivan deelares that he can
do Tailoring and Cr.tting "on the shortest notice aiid in
the most satisfactory manner,"
Tliat CJjarles B. Hatch was then Postmaster is shown
by a long list of unclaimed letters then lying in the post
ofHee— a list longer than it would have been if postage
had not been so higij aiul chargeable to the re^cipi^-nt
of the letter. Danit-l Pvowley advertises that he Las
lost a small bay mare, strayed from the enclosure of
V\'illiam Olds, and Frederick B. Howard that he has :•,
quantity of farm property for sale, ''clnap for Cash, 'n
at from six to twelve uu)nths for good eiidorsed ]>ap<.'r
])ayable at a southern bank. Tht- pi'rch'i.srr's ^i/cs /«< /'/--
I'is cliiiji.'' ])aui(d M'Eaehron says tl)at live spring
calves have strayed into his pasture in the north parr
of the town. There is an Administrator's Notice of tin-
estate of Le\i Frisbie, deceased, signed by Sally I'ris-
bie,\VilLird Fri.bie and Aaron B. :\bick.
The nnist delightful pictni-e is suggested In- the "ad"
which sets forth the advantages of the I'\nrv from West-
port to Basin Harbor, "th.- suj.erior H(nse-B.)at
EACi]A], Cajit. Asahtd Havens," whitdi has been run-
ning three trips a day, starting out at 7 A. M., 10 \. m.
and •■; 1'. 3!., but, v.il! from t!u.' blth of Srptemb.a- nuiL-:
iiLSToRY or wKsrroirr -m
but two trip.-^. "The pecnli;ir sitantiou (jf this J^oii'v,
in-otectpJ as it is by inouutains, reiulevs classing saffS
aud iwtaid, cvtMi iu the must l.ioistcrous times.'" SigueJ
l)y C. B. Hatch and A. Havens. These liorseboats
\vere commou on the Hndsoi), aud were propelled by
side wheels, worked by a kind of troadn)ill in which
two horses stood, continually walking nowhere, like the
liorse-poweis which aie now senji in connection with
our" threshing machines.
It was in November, the 10th, in a gale of wind, that
the steam tug MrDoHdnijlt was wrecked in Button I3ay.
A canal boat had broken loose from the tou-, and in the
endeavor to jiick her up the MrPo/imn/Jt. ran ou the reef
and nevei- tlo;itfd again. The engine was taken out and
the hull abandoned where it lay. It is a little remark-
able that the oidy two wrecks in the history of naviga-
tion on Like Chainplaiu (so far as I know; which were
caused by stean^ers running agn^nnd occurred within
sight of. Westport,~the McDomnn/h in IS 11 and t!ie
('la'nijilaiii in 1S75.
The oldest surviving book of the reconls of the Con-
gregational church at AVadhams begins with the date
Oct. 8, 1811, and ends Oct. IG, 18G1. One of the first
•Mitilt^s is that <_if the sacrament ailministered by the
Rev. Cyrus Comstock, to whose labors, liftt'.ni ^•ears be-
fore, the existence of the church was mainly due. This
year the pastcu' was the Rev. Charles Spooner, who re-
mained thirteen years. Tiie deacons were Gecjrge W.
Sturtevant and William L. Wadhams, and the church
oli.-rk, WiUiatn L. Wadhams. ]>eacou Wadh;ims was
4JS HISTORY OF WKSTroUT
churcli cleik coutiuuonsly until 1S()1, with tli-^- oxco])-
tiou of t?\-o or thrco years spent in Califorhiii. Tlio
first babies whose baptisms are recorded in this book
are George Harvey, sou of Levi and EHsa Pierce, and
Mary Elizabeth, daughter of John Pi. and Elmitia ^Vhit-
ney. The memborship at this time was one hundred
and twenty- two.
Tow u Meetiug at H. J. Persons.
William Guy Hunter, Sujxjrvisor.
Harvey Pit-rce, Clerk.
Diodorus Holcomb, Justice.
Newton Hays, Colleclov.
Piatt R. Halstead, Calviu An<,Mer. Alexander Stovenson.
Assessors.
HezeKiab Barber. Abram E. Wadhains, William Rich-
ards, Road Commissioners.
William VanVleck. Miles M'F. Sawyer, William L.
Wad bams. School Commissioner.
Orson Ke]lo;Lj;,' and Asahel Lyon. School Inspectors.
Tillinghast Cojc and Horace Holcumb. Poor Masters.
Newton Hays. Jared Goodell. James Peets. Henry Stone.
Constables.
Horace Barnes. Sealer of Weights and Measures.
Patbmasters. — A[;ollos Williams, Otis Sheldon, Samuel
Root. Andrew Frisbie. Lorrin Cole, Aaron B. Mack. Cy-
rus Richards. Horace Barnes, James Marshall. Elijah
Aufjier, George \K. Sturtevant, George Kilmure. Stephen
Sayre, Augustus Hill. David R. Woodruft, Charles T. Cady,
Epbraim J. Bull. Alan Slaughter, Leonard Avery. Daniel
M. Fhuvard. Dennis Slaey. Frederick T. Howard. Ezekiel
Pangbonru, Julius Ferris. 3h)ses Felt. Calvin C. Augier.
Orrin Skinner. B. P. Douglass. Lester Wallace. J(>sei)h
Duutley. Jtihn Stone. Ichabod Bartlett.
Voted U) raise ten dollars to refund to Asabel Havens
f(>r counterieit money taken by him as school eommissioner.
This is a pertinent example of the injury and incon-
venience sntiered by the people from counterfeit nioney
i/iSTO/n' OF WKsrroirr nu
and notes fvoiii iinsoujul bunks. I'rom ISoG to ISti'J
there \vore no l>auks but State banks, and the laws,
especially in the earlier ]iart of this period, were inade-
(.[uate to prevent adventurers from pretending to estaVj-
lisli bard\S, and putting in circulation notes which were
entirely worthless. Xi) wonder the ]jeoph' ju'eferred to
barter in iron and farm produce.
Now w>3 have another of our stories of ad\enture on
the lake. If you seek for the ron)ance of our history,
you will ever '^\\m\ it upon the water. Talk with one of
our old boattjien — there are no young ones, and soon
there will be no old ones either — and see their love for
a sailor's life, just the same fervor found iu an ''old?,alt''
of tiie s^-a shoie, even th.jugh our wateis are fresh and
land always in sight. "1 liked it better th.m 1 did to
eat," said Mr. James A. Allen to me, telling me of the
twent3'-two years which he sailed the lake, as man and
boy, in the years, from 1832 to 1854, when you might
see fifteen or twenty sail in the bay at any time. And
then he told me a story of one of his tii'st trips in his
own boat, when he was twenty- three years old. He
started out from St. John's with his cargo, bound for
New York, and carrying in his cabin a box containing
five hundred Mexican dollars. His employers liked
tht.'ir niou'-'V in Mexican dollars, u]'on which thev ob-
t.-iined a prt-miunj in New York. ]ialidi Lovcland, a
young man of iiis own age, was sailing his own boat
too, as his father had done for year.s, the children grow-
ing up half on ship-board, anil knowing the lake as you
ku-w your own back yiud. "One smutty night" as
f
420 jfjSTO/n' or WKSTPO/rr
Mr. Alien said, bo ran ashore on Scliu}lcr's island, and
Loveland ran out from ]5ni'lini;ton and liolj^ed biui oil',
lightening his hoat l,»y taking on his dock load. Then
she floated again and they sailed away, getting into
Northwest Bay before morning, and when the suii rose
they were tied up safe and sound at Ilateirs wharf, and
had turned in for a wink of slec^p. Waking, they l)e-
gan transfrriing the deck loail from liovelaud's boat tc
Allen's again, and while busily at work looked up to the
top of the hill and saw all the yillage people passing by,
dressed in their Sunday garb. Then it burst upon then)
that it was Sunday morning, a fact that their liight of
toil and jieril had driven from their niinds, and that
they were "breaking coyenant obligations" bs perform-
ing unnecessary labor upon the Sabbath. As Loyeland
was then a faithful member of tlie Baptist church, and
Allen afterward a pillar iu the same, they took the sit-
uation seriously, and hastened to set themselves right
in the eyes of the comtnnnit}'.
It is true that iu those days the churches were ex-
tremely watchful iu regard to the daily conduct of their
members. It was the time of numerous "church trials"
for offeuces ranging iu tnaguitude from a prolonged
al)seuce from the Sunday services to profanit}-, lying
and drunh'enness. These were in no sense "heresy tri-
als," and the church never properly claimed jurisdic-
tion over otlences against the common law, but it was
eousidered a plaiu though paiuful duty to take action
upon every suspicion of unchri^tiall conduct or incon-
sistency. It will not requiri; njuch rellti-tiou to eon-
ii]STni:y OF w/:sT/'ojrr -iji
vinco iiny pt^rsoD with a nioilerate kiiowledgo of liuuian
nature that the strict oiiforceiueut of tlii.s piincii^hi
often Ict^l to most unholy warfare, to ilie perplexity a}iil
despair of well-meaning and conscientious })eople.
Another gentn-ation has learned nioie wisdom, and the
ancient chr.reh trials a.re thin;^s of the past. They make
tedious and profitless reading, with sometimes a reve-
lation ot situations unspeakably humorous. Yov in-
stance, one of the Baptist deacons was so unfortunate
as to'lind great dilTicult}' in living in peace with his
wife. Now we leave it to any married man if this was
not a disj^ensation sulliciently afflictive in itself, without
having a solemn ciiui'ch coinmittee of threoorfi\e long-
faced l>!-ethren tjling in at his front door with the in-
tention of inquiring into the particulars. "We of this
generation should give thanks that, among other bles-
sings, tlie New England conscience has become amel-
iorated l)_y the development of a keen and wholesome
sense of humor. One word in our vernacular to 1
am inclined to ti'ace directly to this p(!riod. Any pcr-
soil who had been obliged to undergo the examination
of the church in regard to his or her conduct in any
nnitter was said to have been "church-mauled." It will
be perceived that the veiw formation of the compound
word betrays a symi>athy with the su]>posed oii'ender
and a turning of [)opular o})iniou against the church
tribunal.
This summer there was a can)p-meeting at Barber's
Point, in the woods near the lake, and again in two
yars it was ji.dd iu the same [)hu''\ Tlii^ w;is as con-
■JJ-2 IllSTOnV OF W i: ST I 'OUT
veiiiout and accessible a spot as ci'nli] l-o fDund. since-
preachers aud pc-ojile always came from tlio ^'ermf)nt
sbore as well as frora this side of the lake, and th-^
ferry boat was in great demand. The line steamer also
stopped at the Point repjularly for several years after
this.
The threat Euj^dish novelist, Charles Dickens, visited
America this year, aud recorded liis impressions of tlio
country in "American Notes." His ])assagc throuj^li
Ijak"e Cham))lain is thus touched upon.
"There is one American boat — the vessel which car-
ried us on Lake Cham plain, from St. John's to White-
hall— which I praise v(>ry highly, bat no more than it
deserves, when I say that it is superior even to that in
which we went from Queenston to Toronto, or to that
in which we travelled from the latter place to Kings-
ton, or I have no doubt I may add, to any other in the
world. Tills sttiaraboat, whicli is called the Iiiirlinr/f'))i,
is a perfectly exquisite achievement of neatness, ele-
gance, and order. The decks are drawing-rooms ; the
cabii^s are boudoirs, choicely furnished and adorned
with prints, pictures and musical instruments ; every
nook and corner in the vessel is ;i jjcrfect curiosity of
graceful comfort and beautiful contrivance. Ca])tain
Sherman, her commander, to whose ingeiiuity and ex-
cellent taste these results are solely attributal)le, has
bravely and worthily distinguished himself on more
than one trying occasion ; not least anjong them, in
having the moral ctiurage to carry Bi-itish troops, at a
time iduring t!ic Canadian r<.'beliioui wln.-n no otlicr
HISTORY OF wKsrrnin' 423
couvcviinco was open to thfin. ITo and his vessel are
held iu universal respect, both by ids own couutrynieu
and ours ; and no man ever enjoyed the popular esteem,
who, in his sjdiere of action, won and wore it better
than this p;entleuian. -h- ^^ * By means of this Hoat-
ing palace we were soon iu the United States again,
and called that evening at Burlington ; a pretty town,
where we lay an hour or so. "We re;iched Whitehall,
where we were to disembark, at six next morning ; and
might^have done so earlier, but that these steamboats
lie for some hours in the night, in consequeuce of the
lake bi-oouiing very narrow at that ]iart of the jour-
ney, and dithcult of navigation iu the da)k. Its width
is so contracted at one point, indeed, that they are
obliged to warp round by means of a rope. ^ ^ *
After bieakfasting at Whitehall we took the stagecoach
for Albany, a large and busy town, v^here we arrived
between five and: six o'clock that afternoon."
We have a copy oi the Essex C(junty Times for. Oct.
5, 1842. On the editorial page we find au account of a
Democratic convention which met at Elizabethtowu
Sept. 28, iu preparation for the coming election. Van
Buren, Democratic, had just goue out, and William
Henry Harrison, Whig, was now in. The delegates
from Wfstport were Ausou H. Allen, Harry J. Person,
Orson ]Cellogg, Miles MT. Sawyer, Piatt P. Halstead,
Frederick B. Howard and Alpheas Stone. The dele-
gate to the CNnigrossional Couveution was Piatt K. Hal-
stead.
Tlie rt -^'diitious of the Eli/abethti)'.vn convention.
'/!>-/ iiisruRY OF WEsri'oirr
ilrafttM.l 1)j JL)n. A. C. Huud, r.ve, exprcssi\e of tlie ])f)-
liliciil sitiiiition. 'rho7e is coijclemiiation ol" "all r.l-
tempts to sell Unele Sam's wooil lot to the Dutch, Eng-
lish or eTews," a refcreuce to "the short and confused
ascendency of Whi^ism," and a pio|diccy "llial we shall
be troubledno more with Datdcism, hard cider and coons
for the next quarter of a century." "The Whig partv
have been weighed in the balance and f(.)unLl wantin;^^
The people are saying to them, 'who deceives ns once,
'tis his fault ; if he deceive me twice, 'tis minr-.' " Our
town committee appointed was Piatt 11. Halstead,
Harry J. Person, James W. Eddy.
We are informed that the Westport Young People's
Temperance Society will hold a meeting this evening
in the Methodist church, and there will be an address
by William Aiken, I^squire. Also that the next Quar-
to-ly meeting of the Essex Couiity Tem[)erance Societv
will be held in the Congregational church at Tjewis, in
October, and that Orson Kellogg is the secretarv. The
Eastern Xew York Anti-Slavery Society will hold a
convention for the county of Essex at East Moriah, Oc-
tober 13 and 14. Addresses by Pllder Abel Erown of
Albany and Elder I). W. Burroughs.
Charles E. Hatcli is still postmaster, and he gives a
list of ahout twenty lett;^rs lying unclai(U3 I. Tin od-
de.st among these names is that of Dovalthy Hickok,
and we notice an Antoine which sliows that l)efore this
time the French Canailian names had come to be known
in the village.
Harvey Pi.-rce "has just returned from Nvw York
n/sm/n' or ]vi:sti'oiit r 4-jj
\\\i\\ {\ splendid assortment- of Fall Croods. IjUick,
J'lue-Black. Invisible Green and Brown Broad-clotlis,
Sattinetts, Cassiroeres, Pilot Cloths, Yestin-^s, Alpaeca
C'loths, Bombazines and Silks. Heavj- ^^took of Gro-
cerit-.s. Liquors Excepted."
Ivent and Felt ads'ertise the Hattinj^Bu-^iness cxactly
as befora, and Eddy and Kent will sell Bonnet Silks,
iiibbous, Flower.-s, and also Cauldron Ketth^.s, but in
••mother cnhinin we .-ire warned of the dissolution of thu
thin of James W. Eddy and Dan H. Kent, Aut;. 30,
Isl'2. The Cuttint^s and the liichardses advertise as
liefore, and John H. Low aniiounces "lliat he is determ-
ined not to l>e undersold by any one, at his store two
iloors south of H. J. Person's Hotel." ]Iiid<ley Coll
fui-nishes Lime at his Lime Kiln in the .south part of
the town. "Notes of most of the suspended Safety
Fnud and Bed Back Bank Xotes bought by William J.
Cuttiu;^^" Inquire of Barnabas ^Myrick if you wish to
!"uy the fariu of James Marshall on the road to Essex.
Heo. B. Beynolds is agent for E. Jewftt oi Yeri,'enries
for receivinj^f Wool to ('aril or Manufacture. s.jQ Be-
ward will be ^iven for iuformation which will insure
conviction of persons who have committed various tres-
I'lsses iu the yard and >^rounvls now occuoii'd bv Sew-
all Cuttin<i;. (This was the old Dr. llolcomb place, at
the forks of the road, the jilace now occupied by Joseph
j.ord.)
Abiathar Polhtrd is about leaving town, and "would
inform the iidial)itaut.s of Keeseville that he will hold
.bims.df in r.'i!dib''>s j>roa'pt]y to utteu 1 all who, in af-
426 III STORY OF WKSri'OirP
ilictive Providouce, uia} icquii-e liis aid." Aiul ther-.-
is au EKeeutor's Nolieo for the estate of John Chaudler,
deceased.
It was in the suiniDcr (»f 1842 that Francis Parktnau,
tlie r;reat liistoriaa, made his first trip tlirough Lake
George and Lake Chaniplain, aceoinpauied by Henry
Orue White, exanjiniug the scenes of the events of the
earl}' viurs of America, and obtaining that thorough
kuowledge of the country which is so evident iu all liis
works upon the history of this region. The next
year he went again this way to Canada, collecting his-
torical uiaterial at Quebec and other places, and passed
through on a siinihir journey once niore in 1877. When
the Westport Library \vii< opened, in ISSS, he presented
it-with a complete set of his historical works, which now
stands upon the shelves, one of the most valued posses-
sions of the Library. Kis interest in this Jnstitntii)n
had been awakened by an ;iccouut given him by ^Irs.
F. L. Lee of its histor\- and its needs.
1843.
Town Meetin<^ held at the lun of FI. J. IVrsons.
William Ouv Hunter. Suftervisor.
Cyrus W. Richards. ClerK.
Anson [I. Alien and Miles 3] F. Siiwyer, Justices.
Betjajuli P. Douijjlass. Colle^'lor.
E. H. Coll. Luther An^ier, Asabel r>voD, Asses.sors.
Alviu Bui-t. Lorrin Cole. Elijah An;.nL'r, Road Commis-
sioners.
• Ira t-ifnilersou, WlUidui 1^. Wudhams, ^^'illiam \'.iu
Vlei.k, Sebool CDmmissiuncr.-^.
WilTuun llii^bv and Orson I\ello<,'(r. School Inspectors.
Tillin^hast Coie and Hmimco LloU.-uial., Poor AUusters.
K
jiisrom' OF WF.srroirr 427
l{;irnal)as Myrick. Alcxiindcr St'.'voiison. Alans(in ilar-
b(M-. Inspectors of Election.
i>. y. Doutjhiss. Erastus Lovelaiid. Jarod Guoclalf. Jumcs
l\'(^ts. iloiMce Earnes, Constablos.
William Van Vleck. Sealer of \\'ei</L.ts and Mea,^ures.
l^itlimaslers. — William Brooks, E. IE Coll. Jau;es Eeets.
E-vi l-'rlsbie, Alhei't £\ Cole. Aaron E. Mack. William
Meliityi.e. Jloi'ace Bai'ues, James McKenney. Luther
An^i-ier, George W. Sturtevant. Titus ^]. Mitchell, Davnl
11. Snyre. Augustus Hill. David K. Woodruff. Chai'les T.
<'iidy.' Johnson Hill, D. M. Nichols. Albert Stringham,
J^utlier B. Hannnoud. Heurv Stone. John Ormiston, l'\n-est
M. Coodspeed. J ulius Ferris. Humphrey Sherman. \\ ar-
i-en Cibbs. Leonard Taylor. B. P. Douglass. Lconaril Ware,
.louathan Cady. James fortune. Ti'uman Bartlett.
At a meeting of the board of Toud Auditors convened
at the Town Clerk's oftieo in the tnwn of Westport. od the
fir^t day of April. ISiiJ, present: U'illiam G. Hunter. Su-
pervisoi-, Cyrus W. Eichards, Town Clerk. John H. Low.
J ra Henderson and Anson H. Allen. Justices of the Peace,
it was unaainiously resolved that the Supervisor of said
town pay over to Piatt R. Halstead the sum of tifty dollars
heretofore raised to fui-nish a map of said town, whenever
he shall have completed the map i)y making the allotments
and the subdivisions of the different patents of said town,
more esi.iecially the Bottsborough and P. Skeins Patent,
to the satisfaction of said supervisor.
Eecoi-ded tl:is ::rd day of April. 184:-*. Cvrus Eienards.
Town Clerk.
^Yas this map ever made? If so, wliat becauje of it?
The ])reseut writer can find no tiaee <»f it except this
i-ntry iu the okl Town Book.
This yc;ir was the one set by William Milh^r for the
Kml of the World. Mr. David Turner v. rites as fol-
hnvs iu regard to this remarkable delusion:
'•The Millerite fanaticism, that extended from 1^^3'J
to 18i:>, tlie day ti\-ed fur the grand ascension of the
-aints to th.' realms above. At that tiuH> every man.
^^omaij at'd cbiid iu Pauto!.!, Vt., wa.> a tiriu bi>Jiever iu
'-v
fJS IIISTOHY OF WL\STJ'(}/rr
Miller's (lucti'iijo. Even- Sunday, unci almost every
week tiny, it catnp-nieetiug \vas liekl in tli". woods on
the lake shore, and on a still ni^ht, with an easterly
wind, you could hear the loud singing from across tho
lake -
''O Canaan. hi-i<;ht Canaan,
I'm bound for the land of Canaan ! '
O Canaan it is my haj)py home,
I'm bound for tho laud of Cauaan !
If you get th(M'e before I do,
.Tust tell them I am coming' too,
For I'm bound for the laud of Canaan !"
I ]n^ve been told that William Miller once preached
his wild doctrine in the Baptist church in Westport,
when it stood upon the hill where it wasiirst built, but
as tho church was moved in 1839, and Milior had then
but just begun his propaganda, I do not think it at all
likely. He seems to have had very few followers here.
Mr. Aaron Clnrk once told me that he knew of some
]>eople in town who were convinced by Miller's argu-
ments, (drawn chiefly from the mystical figures in tho
Book of Daniel,) but he would not give their names be-
cause he said they were all enlightened as to their er-
rors before now, from which I guessed that they had
all gone to another world, though not precisely accord-
i))g to the predictions of Miller.
A copy of the Tiii*e.s for June 1-i gives tho card of
Asa Aikens, Attoruey-at-Law, and a notice of the for-
ma ion of a })artuership between (Jharles Hatch and
Harvey Pierce. Johu EL Iiow "has just received fash-
ionable sumnier goods." Tiie call for a meeting of
schi-Md teachers at the Aca^lemv Cor the fuimutiou of ;«.
ji/sTom' OF WKsT/'ojrr 42.0
Te.icliers' Association in Wostpoi't, siguf*! l\v Orson
KoUogi as Town Superiutondeut, shows that he is still
jirincipal of the Academy.
In the Times for June 28 th.eve is a honp; descrij>ii(»u
of the receut celebration of the Battle of Bunker Hill,
v.ith au address by Daniel Webster, listened to by the
largest crowd ever seen in this country," — 150,000 ! In^
the procession were two hundred Eovolntionary sol-
diers and twelve survivors of the battle of Lexington.
As for oar business men, the most important advertise-
ment seems to be that of William J. and Franklin H.
Cutting, who have purchased "store and wharf recently
owned % C. B. Hatch, Esq." The copartnership be-
tween "William and Cyias Biehards is dissolved, and
the business is continued by William Biehards alone,
^\ hile on tlie other hand, a new partnership is just
formed by -Charles Hatch and Harvey Pierce. '"W. I).
and B. F. Holcomb Irave opened a new tailoring estab-
lishment one-door north of Hatch and Pierce's store."
Asa Aikens, "being a solicitor in Chancery, and Attor-
ney and Counsellor-at-Law in all the courts of law in
A'ermout, will attend to legal business confided to him
in the counties bordering on Lake Champlain." Kent
has just received 32S palii:i leaf hats, and will sell
'•sawed Eave Troughs," and "Wash Tubs, Angler's
make," as well as a variety of stoves. Edmund J.
Smitlr has just opened a blacksmith shop "one door
south of his carriage shop."
•We have five old rcsiJcnt fuinities, ciaiitnintf no relation^hip with one another
<ii Uit- h.onorab!c hyl (rt.j-jcnt tioaic of. Siuuh. The oMcsl of these J.s umloul-tctiiy
K
-!3<) iiiSToiiY OF \v/jsTr<j/rr
TIjo next moeting of tlic Toaclicrs' Association for
the town of AVestport will bo held ut the Acaden^y.
Several short addresses will be delivered on the subject
of education. AVilliam Higby, Pres. A. C. llogers.
Sec. Meetings of the Essex Couuty Temperance So-
ciety are still held, Dr. Sanincl Shunaway of Esse'x.
President, Orson Kellogg, Secretary. The Annual
Meeting of the Chaniplaiu Baptist Convention, witli
leave of Providence, will be held in Essex, July 5. C.
AV. Hodges, Sec. X. P>. The Board of the Convention
are requested to meet at Deacon Keuel Arnold's.
Anson H. Allen, as Justice, allovNS himself a sly joke
in advertising 'Tlymenial kuots. tied in good style in
short order." Under "Marriages" we tiud two interest-
ing events: "In this, village, 01:1 the evening of the 22ad
inst., b}- Pev. J. Thomson, ]Mr. Alonzo M. Knapp >)i
Crown Point, to Miss Lucj' A. Clark,, daughter of Da-
vid Clark, Ji^sq. Also, on the 27th inst., b_)- Rev. Mr.
the Smith family at VVadhanis, known to have been there before the war of iSii.
Edmund J. Smith, of the well-known family of Smith street, Shoreharn, Vt.^
canic about iS4o and opened a carriage and blacksmith shop near his house on
Washington street. His wife was Emma I^rrabee, sister of Mrs. Dr. Shattuck,
and his children are Frank E. Smith, of the firm of Smith \- Kichard-, and Mrs. C.
A. Pattisoa.
Jaiiics A. Srailli came fmni Brooklyn in iSfo, zs-A made clav !>ip*s at Coil's Buv.
His wife was MaiietU Munereltc, and his chilJreii now living^ are Gab?ic!,. Peter
and Sarah, now Mrs. John Karnsworth.
John E. Smith came froiiv CaaxuUi. and settled on the Iron Ore Tract, on the ro u!
to Seventy-five. He was the father of William Smith, of John Siiulh tlie under -
taker, and of .Mrs- James Patten.
Ira Smith was a shnemaktr. and kept the toll-^jale for a long^ time. His so-.
Artli ir is a jfraduateof CornelL I-cil-.e Smith^brotJier u£ Ira, isa <.-iiLrper]ter,.rK..v.-
living on Pleasant '-treet.
K
iiisroi'v OF wrsrroirr -i.u
Ifoa-os, Oill.ert A. Grant, Esq.. of Non\ :\laiki't, N.H.,
to Miss. H'.leii St. John Aikt^iis of tlii.s j.];ico."
Ou tlip eleventh of Seitteuibor was lu-l(l tlie twenty-
iiiuth aijuiversarj of tlie Battle of I'lattshur^li, at
IMatti^bun'li. The l^Tsideut of the day was Col David
11. McNeil, fonvierly of Wci^tport, and thatpart of the ex-
erci.'^^'s most interesting from thejioiut of view of this his-
ti-iy was iritfrxlnced a.s follows : '"J'o ouiestetmed fellow-
citizen. Pl.itt II. Halstead, Esq., late a Ij'eutcnaut in th---
I'uited States Army, I a,.ssion the honor of placing- uion-
luneuts at the graves of Capt. Alexander Anderson, of
the P>ritish marines; Lieut. William Paul, midshipman;
Williaiji Gunn and 3>oatswain Charles JackKon of the
Pritis.h navy, and Jose{)li Bairon, julot <>n board Com-
niodore Macdonoagh's ship — all of whom fell in the
naval engagement in Cumberland i^ay, oft" Plattsbnroh,
Sept. 11, lSl-4. Josepli Barron, pilot, was personally
known to Lieut. Ilalstoad and myself, aiid was a man
hold in high estimation, for his intelligence and jiatri-
otism,lty all who had the })leasnre of his acquaintance."
The account of the exercises goes on to say that "Lieut.
Ifalstead in the discharge of the duties assigned him,
♦ lected the monuments at the head of the graves of the
three lieutenants ot the P>ritish navy, and j>ruceeded to
the gravf of Jo^e))h I5:irron, and as near as we could
catch his remarks, spoke as follows : 'I take a melan-
choly pleasure in erecting this monument at the grave
of Joseph Barron, Commodore 3iacd<^>nougirs contiden-
lial pilot/ .1 knew him wt-ll — l)e wa.s about nty own
s
'f:i-2 iiisT()i:r OF WFsrrmrr
a<^e — wo were scliool -l)oys to;^otlior — a vv-;\rniev liearte<l
(!)• a braver man ))evei' trod the deck of a slii[).' "
It was ab<jiit lS-53 that .Fioeborii]!. Pa<:i;o tirst caino to
Westport, from H3'i.]e Park, Yt., wJieie lie was born in
18'i4. His pai'cnts were Lorenzo and JPolly (Matthews)
]\ige. He opened a tin shop, and afterward a store for
general merchandise, was for a time a partnt^r of C. H.
Eddy in this jil.ice and (lai'i'ied Km a whoh~-sah3 grocery
bnsiness in Troy for a number of years. His I'trst wife
was Phebe Ann Yiall, daugliter of William Viall, and
their children were Kvelyn, now Mrs. Dan Holcomlj,
and Walter, who died at Bay City, Midi., in 1883. His
-second wife was Mrs. Mary Hitchcock, daughter of
William J. Cutting. Mr. Page's sister C'lara married
1). L. Allen.
Another arri\;d from "\%:rmont was Judge Asa Aikens,
with his family, from Windsor, as is apparent from the
notice of Judge Aikeiis' law business in the Timc^, and
the announcement of his daughter's marriage, in June.
One reason for their coming to ^yestport was the res-
idence here of Mis. Aikens' brother, William Guy Hun-
ter, and of the family of her sister, Mrs. Sewall Cutting,
wlio iiad diotl three years before.
Asa Aikens was born in Barnard, Vt., Jan. 13, 1788,
the son i)f Solomon and Ijetsey (Stnithi Aikens. He
entered West Point Nov. 30, IHM, and iu the war of
1812 was a captain iu the ."Ust regiment, U. S. A. Ht*
graduated from Middlebury College, class of 1S08, and
pmcticed law in Windsor until his removal to Westport
Prom 1818 to 1820 he \\a< in the Yerniout Ia.-''islatur->.
s
niSTony or wKsrroirr -^.-^r-i
from 1S2P» to 1825 Jn(l;:-o of the, supreme Court of Ver-
mont, aiul in 1827 President of the Council of Censors.
In 1827 and 1828 lie edited the Supreme Court Ee-
})()rts. He published two l;i\v-boolcs, "Practical Forms"
in 18;jr), and "Tables," in ISIG, after he had settled in
AVest]:)ort. The latter is doubtless the first book ever
published by any one living in our to>vn. He married
his first wife,.Xancy Ann Speucer, Jan. 24, 1800, and
her children were Emma Jeromino and Julienne Ger-
trude. His second "wife was Sarah Hunter, marrie-1
Dec. 4, 1814. Chikheu : Villeroy Spencer ; Mary Eliz-
abeth ; Helen St. Johns (Mrs. Grant>; Au-,'usta (Mrs.
Dudley); William Hunter; Edwin Edgerton ; Charles
Eugene; Sarah Hurjter (Mrs. Jacobson); Guy Hunter ;
Franklin Pluuter. Judge Aikeus died in Hackensack,
X. J., while on a visit, July 12, 1863, and his wife died
^even vears latei'.
1S-J4.
Town Meeting held at the Inn of H. J. Person.
Franklin 11. Cutting. Supervisor.
William Van Vleek, Clerk.
John H. Low. Justice.
Asahel Lyon, Town buperinteudent of Common Schools.
Tliis is the first election of sucd an officer, and probably
marks toe date of the first election of trustees in the dif-
ferent districts. We du nut Had the three ••school com-
missioners" and the three '"sc-hool inspectors'- again
e!c(>ted as town officers.
Diodorus Holcomb. l^uther An<.ner. Alexander Steven-
sou. Assessors.
I'.lijah .Vngicr, 1-linkley Coll. Abrain K. Wadhams. Road
Commissioners.
James W. Kddy, ^\'illia[n L. Wadhams. Joseph K. Delano,
Inspector.s of Election.
This is tlie first election of such otficci-s.
V
434 II J STORY OF ]Vj:STPOirr
Hezekiali Barbor iind FLn-ac-e ITolcomb. Ovorsoers of the
PfMDr.
Benajah 1'. Dou<.:.'ass. Collector.
B. P. nou<^lass, Erastus Lovehuid, Jarcd Goodalo, flor-
ace Barnes, Constables.
Heory H. Holcomb, Sealer of Weifrhts and Mea.sures.
Patbmastcrs. — Joseph Bi^^alow, Elihu If. Coll. James
Peets. Tillinf,'hast Cole. Charles Fisher. Willard Frisbie.
Williatn Viall, James Marshall. Henry Royce, (.Tcorore W.
Stnrtevaut. Aoram E. Wadhains, John R. \\'himey, Joel
IX. "Whitney, Joe! B. Finney, Curtis Pierce. Leonard
Fisher. Jonas Vauderholf, AlonzoSlaughter, JoshuaSmith.
Jacob Decker. Daniel Nichols. Jesse Sherman, Solomon
Stockwell. Lee Prouty, William P. Merriam, William Mar-
tin, Lyman F. Hubbard. John Flinu. Arteraas Hartwell.
Joseph Duntley, John Slone, Truinau Bartlelt.
Voted to raise ten dollars "to ]>urchase a set of Weights
and Measures for the use of the Town.""
-Asaliel Lyon failiuf' tc> serve as Superintendent of Com-
mon Schools Asa P. Hammond was ajipointed in his place.
In consequence of the resignationof William \^an VIeck."
Samuel C. Dwyer v.-as appointed Town Clerk by three
Justices, Miles M'F. Sawyer, Anson H.- Allen and Ira
Henderson.
By this time the cild militia training' clay had passed
away, and its place had beeu taken by tlie mass meet-
ings of the people called political conventions. This
year saw the last campaign of the brilliant Whig lead-
er, Henry Clay, and a grand Whig Couveiition was held
•William Henry Van Vleck was the son of Mrs. Cathaline Po.st Van Vleck, a
widow •.vhi> rf siJed la Westport from some time before iSjo to her death in 1S67.
He niarric-ii PJizabeth WhalloQ, (iaug'atcr of James M Whullon, owner of the
mills at Whallonsburgh, and they livtd in '.he large brick house on the river bank
(since used a-i a hotel) which is still sometimes called "'the Van Vleck House,"
althojgh t!ie %'an Vlecks moved to Waahinyton more ihiin a generation ago.
L'pon the death of Eliznbeth his wife, Wiiiiam Van Vleck, married her sister Kin-
eline Wh.illon. Elizabctli Van Vicck, sister of Wiliiaiti, married the Rev.
Thomas fSrandt, a B.iptist minister who preached in Wt^lport from 1S43 to iS4>,
and whojs said to have been a descendant of Joseph Brandt, the famous Mohnv k
chief who fought for the Biitish in trie Revolution,
*-v
II I STORY ()F WKSTrOirr -io'y
;it tlie county seat in SoptombLM-, at wliieh every town
iii the couuty was represented by a pictorial delegation.
The dis))lay made by AYestport is still remembered as a
triumph. In a large car rode "tweuty-six ladies, young
and beautiful," as au eye witness reports, representing
the nunib;n- of states then in the Union, and each car-
rying a Hag with her state name upon it. 'J'he car was
drawn by thirteen yoke of oxen, each with its own
teamster, and with horns decorated with red, white and
blue ribbons, while behind the car rose deafening music
from fife and drum. The head teamster of nil was
Blijah Wright, a famous driver of oxen, then more com-
monly used than horses for farm work. To-day thirteen
yoke of oxeu cannot be found in the township. The
car was a rude affair, and the roads very bad, even for
that period, and the whole delegation toiik turns in
walking jiart of the way, with the single exception of
Jose|)h Ji. J)elano, who was lame at the time, and rode
iu state in a rocking chair. Of the twenty-six young
girls who took part in this ardent display of political
entiiusiasm three are still living iu 1003. One was
Mary Hardy, afterward Mrs. Humphrey Sherman,
another was Ijouise Dunster, afterward 31rs. Maurice
Sherman, and the third was a daughter of Alexander
Whitney who went in disregard of her father's allegi-
ance to the opposing i^arty, the Loeofocos, and Nvho mar-
ried George F. Stanton.
Westport still has a newspaj^er, but its editor Inis
ohanged. Its name is simply ''The Ks.sex Coanhi T'uncs^'
it is published Thursdays, and its editor is David Tur-
K
4iW HISTORY OF WEST PORT
iier. In politics it represents the Anti-AVhig iiarty
uljose name is still in process of fonnation, as is well
shown by this piiraso from the rosolntions of a recent
convention — "ever}- republican \\ho desires the pros-
perity of the good old democvntic cause." This con-
vention Lad nominated Augustus C. Hand U)V Senator.
It is announced that "the Democrats of Wadhams'
I\]^ills will erect a Hickory at tl;at place on Friday, Oct.
4. The friends of Polk and Dallas, Wright and Gard-
ner, everywhere, are invited to attend," and there are to
be distinguished speakers from abroad. There is also
!i call for three delegates from each town to meet at
Elizabethlowu "to nominate a candidate for Member of
Assembly in the place of "William G. Hunter, who de-
clines." We know that the man who actually went to
the Assembly- from our district this year was Gideon
Hammond.
There is a note about the "Whitehall,"— "this spa-
cious and maguiticeut Steamer has again taken her
place in the Line," Capt. G. Latbrop. And "it is said
that the new Steamer building fit Whitehall is to be
Ccilled the Frdncis Saltt's, in honor of a New York Mer-
chant." Our postmaster is still C. P». Hatch. D. H.
Kent has not yet changed the Maj- advertisement which
announced that he had just returned from tl>e south
with a full and complete assortment of Gooils, "which
range from "IJalxarines, Parisiennes, Muslin de Laines
and kid gloves" to plough points, wash tubs and wagon
tires with a supply of Parlor, Cook and Box Stoves,
"cast from the first quality Pig Iron, and warranted
in STORY OF WKSTPOUT 4:',7
agaiust cracks for ^ix uiontlis v/ith good usage." There
were still people who cooked over the primitive fire-
places, though they were beconiiijg very unfasliionable,
and all the stylish folks had theirs bricked up be-
fore this time, v\ith au ugly iron stove set iu the mid-
dle of the dear old hearth-stor.e whicli had been warm
to the feet of so many babies as they sat before the
open fire aud toasted themselves before going to bed.
Apropos of the subjects of stoves aud cookery, it must
have been about 18-18 when Phebe Sawyer, presented
by her uncle with a new gold dollar, chose to invest it
in the most approved cook-book thcu known, that of
Miss Catharine Beecher, in which full directions are
given-for cooking before an open fire, with crane and
bake kettle and spider-legged frying-pan to be set in a
bed of glowing coals. Cake was to be raised with eggs
only, though directions are given for the use of "pear-
lash," which was usually made at home by burning a
little pile of clean cobs on a newly washed hearth, and
then gathering up the pearly little heap of ashes.
lleturniug to the columns of the Tiin€>:, we find that
Kent still makes Hats of the Latest Fashion, aud that
William J. and Franklin H. Cutting are in business as
before. Horace and Jason Braman have "assigned
their book accounts, notes aud other eflects to Piatt
Sheldon," and Horace Braman wishes to let "the well-
I;nowu Tavern Stand at Wadhams Mills." The firm of
W. D. aud B. F. Holcomb has dissolved partnership,
but W. D. Holcomb will "continue to carry on the Tai-
loring Busiueso." John H. Low is selling dry goods,
K
^^.v lUHTOKY OF WFSTPOirr
from Broaclclotljs to ''Ladies' Cravats, Fj'iii^t-.-, Dress
Silks, Hat ami Cap Piibboiis, with gvocoiies, anioug
M Inch we notice "Lamp Oil," showing tliat the tallow
candle was iu a way to be left behind like the tire-place.
The Port Henry Iron "Works call for 3000 cords good
hard wood and 50,000 bushels o])arcoal made from hard
woud, at sl.To per cord and G cts. a bushel. Signed F.
H. Jackson, Trt:;asurer Port Henry Iron Co. This may
serve to explain what became of our forest primeval.
Solomon Stockwell has lost a red two year old heifer
with a slit in the left ear, but the most remarkable loss
is that of Jacob Allen of Elizaliethtown, v^lio announ-
ces indignantly that "on Sunday last an indented a{v
prentice named Thomas Half})enny" ran away from the
subscriber. It seems that Thomas Halfpenny was an
Irishman and "wore away a dark blue coat considerably
worn, light coloured vest, blue cotton drilling paiita-
l<H)iJS, a new fur hat and black velvet stock."
There are two very interesting obituaries.
"Hied, at his residence in this village, after a long
and painful illness, on the 30th ult., the Hon. Barnabas
Myrick, aged -10 years. Mr. My rick's loss is a public
calamit}-. He was one of our Avealtiiiest, most enter-
prising and useful titizeus. For many years he has
been identified with the prosperity of our llourisliing
village, and beeu foremost in its advancement, having
tilled many olhces of trust with honor ami ;dnlit_v.
among which was the re])resentation of thi> cDunty in
the State L"'L;islatui-e. Init he is cut d(;\vu in the midst
K
niSTOHY OF Wh'Sr/'ORT -/.v.'v
of his clays, loaving a lovely faunly mid a lavgi; circle of
aequaiulauccs.
"Also, on the same day, William Huuter Aikens, late
of the Uui'versity of Vermont, second son of the Hon.
Asa Aikens, a^ed 20 years. 'J'his talented, amiable
and interesting young man has been cut down in the
midst of his collegia to course. It is about a year since
the ipsidious disease which was destined to prostrate
in the dust tlie buoyant aspirations ot the youth and
the fond hopes of parents and friends, began to mani-
fest itself in the decline uf his liealth. Although he
had been placed under the special care of einintjDl, med-
ical gentlemen of the city of New York, no exertions
could save him, and his friends are left with no other
consohition than that his elevated spirit shrunk not at
the prospect of death."
■ This vear also died two of the pioneers, Enos Ijove-
land, aged seventy-eight, and John Halstoad, aged
seventv-four. ]3oth born under the reign of a British
king, they had Hved to see the young republic come to
that stage of development in which an American had
just perfected the electric telegraph. Coming into the
wooded wilderness of this region in ISOO, they had seen,
in the pjissage of' a half-century, the growth of a busy
little village, with comfortable homes scattered over all
the tillable laud of the township.
Town Moi'tin.L' held at the Inn of II. J. Person.
A«<a Ai'fcCL'Us. Supervisor.
\Viiiiani 1). lIokoaiD. Clerk.
K
440 HISTORY OF WKSTrOHT
Dauiol S. French was elected Justice of the Peace, and
David S. McL»^od was apjiointed to till vacancy.
Leveretl Pavd}-, Cullectoi-.
David P. Hi.ltdU. Town Siiperiatendcut of Sebools.
Moses Felt. Aaron P. Mack. Arcliil)aid Patterson. As-
sessors.
GeoriTC Skinner, Williuni J. Cnttie.g. Sauu'.el Koot, lliyb-
way Corninissiouers
James ^^^ Eddy, David H. Sayre, William J. Cuttin«r.
Inspectors of Election.
Albert P. Cole and iSl<'\)lien Sayre. Poor Masters.
/ Leverett Pardy, Horace P. Carpenter, Ira Downey.
Ralph A. Loveland. Constables.
John H. Low. Town Sealer of Wei^'hts and Measures.
•Pathmasters.— Thomas Walton, E. H. Cole, Samuel PJoot.
Peter Ferris, Charles Fisher, Asa Loveland, William Via!!.
James Marshall, Elijah Angicr, George W. Sturte'vant.
Elijah Wrig-ht, Joseph Hardy, A u sou Drama n. D. R. Wood-
ruff, Leonard Fisher. Harvey Smith. Marcus J. Iloising
ton. John Daniels. Barton Hammond, Edward Harper, F.
T. f jo ward. Solomon Stock well. Lee Prouty. Moses Felt.
William Martin, Leonard Taylor, Benajah P. Douglass.
William Hartwell, Orrin Skinner, James Fortune. Ziba
Howard.
Voted to raise .SirvOC for Weights and Measui-es.
This year we liave no old newspaper to refer to, aud
so far as the kuowlcdge of tlie present writer extends,
no more of the Westpoi't papers are in existence.
Nolliiug is more ephemeral than a newspaper, and it is
only by accident that our few treasures have l)een kept
for us. Even now, as 1 write, some housewife may be
rjoing through some inherited garret like a destroying
angel, piling up rubbish in the chii)-yard, and applying
a match to the last one of the old Turner papers. They
were not published for more than three or four years
after this, and if we had a copy of each number it wonhl
not take' a very large place to pile them. Old letters
*-v
iiist<u:y of wKsrroirr ■ 441
;iiul cliuries c<*ntaiii inncli tlirit is of interest, 1-iit are iint.
of coui'se, freiieially accessible to the ])ul)]ic.
Jii Jaiiuarv Piatt li. Halstead made one of liis wiii-
tci' jouriie^ s to the >;outh, to escapt^, the cliilliui; n imls
of the-cliuiate which had ah-ea.dy set its seal \\\)uu al!
h.is father's family. This was })i()l)al)ly his tirs!: wintci-
sjieiit ia the south, aud after this l)e weiit every winter
until his death, s.lop])ii)g iii Mcv. York for a short visit
to Dr; Evaiider TlauLiey, and then L^oiny on to Jackson-
ville, Florida. IIu l.e[it a diary of these tri[is, jjoi-tions
of which were printed in the X<v )''>rl; Ki-ritiifj r<,.<{.
lie was per.sonally acquainted wjth the editm', William
Cullen Bryaut, a njan of exactly his own a^e. There
are a few leaves of the mannscrij.t of tliis diary left, in
ivliich ht3 gives a description of Savannah, and sa^'s :
''We £irri\'ed at Savannah, about eleven o'clock, .i. .M. I
took a walk through the town, and took (jnarteis at the
C ity Hotel, lu the couv.se of the da}- 1 came across
Ivensselaer Ross, .son of 'JMiecuh.'ius Jloss, fi^rnjeriy of
kVlizabethtown. He is an old acrinaintance, and u'e
were much pleysod to meet each other.'" His eye
fwr milita,ry ujatters is thus shown: "Passed by the bar-
rack.s of ihe V. S. troops, about ou(^ huiidied left.
Went ou the pai'ade <:;r(mL!d and saw them insi)ected.
Sh<nild think ihetu mostly recruits." The first of Feb-
ruar\- he concludes to go further .south. "Made a few
purchases, as I had been advi-^. d Lty a Mr. Hancock, a
gentleman from ^'irginia who hatl just retnrned from
-facksonville, sent some ]iapers honje, {lacked ujt my
•baj^age, j>aid uiy bill, took a Ij-J.ej.idly .sh>ke ..»' \h,j \
Jill
K
■442 HISTORY OF WKSTPOnT
■with souio aL'({ii;iiut;iiico which I had made wijih^ in Sa-
vannah, and was accou)panied to the boat bv iuineh(.ist
of the hotel, Avho kindly introduced me to some gentle-
wen who wore jourueying south. The scenery this
evening as we passed through it was very interesting to
a Northern man. Some of the iidets appeared to me
like our creeks, or the lake ten or twelve miles below
Whitehall, excepting the marshes, smooth and even, ex-
tending in some places, as far as the eye can reacJi,
with numerous blutTs «))• islands covered with live o;ik,
with its long grey hair-moss hanging from the limbs,
with their beautiful green leaves. The yellow or long-
leaved pitch-pine, stately and tall, with but few limbs
until you approach the top of the tree, — the palmetto,
which you frequently see along the banks or edges of
the marshes, with its round top comi)osed of long shin-
ing green leaves,— all, all is new to me, and highly pic-
turesque. We passed several islands, with large plan-
tations, with venerable mansions, surrounded by their
numerous out-buildings and negro houses, all white ap.d
neat in jippearance. You occasionally get a view of the
ocean, and see its huge billov.s bursting in foam on the
sandy points of the islands, or the numerous bars be-
tween them." This fragment of the diary stops witlj
the Jjoat running aground near Jacks(Miviile.
Lieutenant Halstead had given n\\ his own house at
the top of the hill not long lifter his sister's marriage,
and lui I bought and remodeled the long white house
which was built by Charles B. Hatch almost on the site
of "the CiaUles" of th.e Wrstport Inn, but standing closr
K
JiisrouY OF ]v/:sT/'()/rr •/■/.■?
r.pDi) tlie ro.-i'l. Here lie occnpi.Ml a bedrr'otn an-.l sit-
liiip, room up stairs, in the north eud, while Mrs. Yau
^'l(•ck and her familv occupied the rest of the house.
Mrs. Van Vk^ck was an old and dt-ar friend, and Ije
foi.k his meals witli h-n-, this avrangeniont lasting; until
l.'is healtli failed sr> fast that he wont to liis sister's house
and there died in 1849. Tiiis uncle was tlio fairy p;od-
I'alher of his sister's jrrowing family of cliiidren, always
(•.«!uinp; baek from the south with trunks full of j^ifts,
and when he died he left them all his property.
In 1845 was bnilt a. plank road t(^ I'dizabethtown
with two toll f-'nles, one standing near where thu rai!-
v.jiy now crosses tlie road, and the other near tiie
■\illage of Elizabc^htown. This road to the Val-
li'v had up to this time been invariably bad, running
t!ir(>ugh low land which could only be crossed bv miles
of nc^oni.xinii^ corduroy. It was made a turnpike. This
plank road ^reatly facilitnted the carriage of ore from
i oats lying at our wharves, which had been loadeil at
Port Henry, to the forges at Elizabethtown and Lewis,
and the return of theii- manufactured iron. This year
a new forge was erectrd, on tlie Boquet. b}- W. V. S: V.
1 >. ^Merriain. It contained tln-ee tii'es, one hammorand
two wheels. It consumed charcoal, burned in kilns on
Hie Iron Ore tract owned by the company-, and also in
niany a solitary kilu in tlie forest, tended by some
farmer or woodsman willing to nnike a few dollars in
this way. Twenty-<-»ne _\ears after tin; opening of Mer-
riaui's Forge, in ISOn, according to Watson, it wasburn-
nig eighty thousand bushels (>f charcoal, and niaking
K
444 II I STORY OF \Vi:STI'oRT
six liniuliocl and thii-tv tons of ^ore into f.nir liundiv.l
aucl fifty tous of iron, in one year. Thi.s was no .loubt
the maximum out-pnt. TJiese works remained in op,^-
ration until about 1S70, but since thoii have been shut
down.
Tliis year D. L. Allen bought the Donqlass wharf
and store.. For six years he had been at Wadhams in
P--^'ttH.)..hip uith J. K. DeLano. For thirty-three years
he did a flourishing business in the Douglass store, and
m 1S78 moved into the large new store on North street
where his son, Frank W. Allen, has succeeded hin..'
Ihis makes a contiijuous business in town for sixty-
tliiee years, the longest in our history. David Lewk
Allen was a son of Nathaniel Allen, who came in fronr
Pauton in ]S21. The other sons of Nathaniel \ll.i,
' ^-ere Almond and James A., and his daughters Alma
and Susan, now Mrs. Farnsworth.
In 1815 i\u^ first St. am propelko- on the lake was
built at Whitehall and called the .Jomc. II. tlookn; af-
terwards doing a large towing busiiiess. The Honker
^vhen first built, carried sails and had a center-boai'd "
In the trustees' book of the J]aptist church is a list
oi the pew-holders of this year, which it is believed will
1^ <-f interest. First oujes the minister's pew, just
■south of the pulpit, occupied by the- family of the Eev
' Thomas Brandt. The nine other pews iu the front of
tiie church are owned by Joel Finney, Miles M'R Saw-
yer, H. iJ.Kstwic-k, Alexand.er Young, Albert P Cole
William Stacy. Ira Henderson, Noriis McKiuney an.I
>\iniam J.. Cutting;. Tlu-u iu the body of the di-uv'-
K
jiiSTouY OF \vt:srr<nrr
-i^.
r.aniabas Mvricl:, linos Lovel;ni«1, (-tiilcon H;\itUiion(l,
I!ilnuu)il J. Stnitli, Calvin An^jier, George B. lioyutilds,
.l..nathan Nichols, TillinoljMst Cole, Piatt lloger.^
Ifalstead, Abner Slancfjitcr, Xeuton iiays, Daiius ^ler-
li.iii), C'ahiu ITanuiioiid, Willi.-Jin Olds, Dependence
Nichols, Klijah Angior. Alonzo Shm^dilev. A. l>arlf r,
Hammond iV' ^IcLeod. Ralph ]voveland, I). Angier A'
Smhs, Dan H. Kent, Joel 13. Jinney, Caleb V. Cole.
.!an)es ]N^oKinney, Aaron B. Mack, Douglass A: Allen,
Mr. Hubbard, Charles B. Hatch. Dr. Kanney, Charles
Hatch, William Viall, Jabez Frisbie, Luther Angier, E.
]'>. Nichols. Each j)ew -was considered the property of
th(( person who bou<:(ht it, and the {.-rices varied accord-
ing:; to the desirability of the situation, the highest bei ng
two at S90 each, owned by Norris IMcKinuey ;ind Wil-
liam .]. Cutjing, to half a dozen, mostly marked "Bap-
tist Church," vidned at ^30. The sum total of value of
;dl the ]>evvs was s 1000.. These uames are uot all those
<'f members of the Baptist church. For instance, the
1 bitches .'dl belonged to ihe Methodist church, but
I'liuglit pews in the other church because thev were
Milling to hei[) both societies. Neither were all these
men living at the time, since we know Dan Kent, Enos
Eovthuid and Barnabas M.yrick were dead, but the pews
were still held in their names. A siiiiilar list of pew-
liolders in the other churches at this tin)e would lie of
great interest, but I have not been .able to obtain them.
This year the M. E. church built a iu*w })arsonagt',
directly north of the church, wliich was in use until the
pre.sejit ojie was built jjj l^S'J. 'J'he old p.irsoDfmo jjow
K
^in iiisTom' OF wKSTrour
stands at the wcriterr. end of the bridi^e, and is ov^ne.i
by ]Mr>^. John Touhey. The committee upou building |
the parsonage, whicli had been appointed four years s
before thi.v, consisted of Wiiham Melntyre, Andrew j
Frisbie, E. Ilolcomb, John Greely and Aaron Clark.
In connection with t)ie subject of travel it is interest-
ing to Jiote a table of prices for this period, from which
it appera-s that one coald '^\o from New York to Albauv
on a lu-st-class steamer for titty cents; from Albany tu
Whitehall, seventy-seven miles, on steamer and packet,
for one dollar and thirteen cents; from "Whitehall to St
John's, one hundred miles by steamer, tweuty-tivr
cents; from St. John's to LaPrairie, fifteen miles, by
railway, fifty cents, and from LaPrairie to Montreal.
nine miles by steamer, fifty cents.
1S4G.
Town Meetin»:at H. J. Per.sou.
lleuajab P. Dou^rlass. vSupervLsor.
William n. Holeorab. Clerk.
Thomas Walton, Justice.
Asa P. ilamrnond. Town Su[ieviuteudent of Couiuujr
Schools.
Ira Downey. Collector.
Aaron U. Mack was elected Asses-sor for three years,
M. Mitchell ivv two years and Andrew Frisbie for one
year. This is the lirst time that the board of Asse.sscii->
was so form-'d that one menAber should be cbang-ed every
year.
Jason RramuQ was elected Plli^liwav (Commissioner for
ti)ree years, William Melntyre for two years and Hinkley
Coll for one vear.
David [T. Savre, David S. Mef^eod. P.oderick R. Pdsio^^.
Inspeetors of Election.
Albert P. Cole and Benjamin Hardy, Poor Masters.
* Tra Downey, James M. ,Mef.a u, Charles fl. Etldy. Urr
ace l'"i^h, Cou.-.t.ali!es.
n/sro/n' nr westpout -ui
Dun S. Cuttiucr. S.'aU'f of Wei<rhts imd Mini-.ui-(\s.
l'at,biuiistc>r.s.— Ttiomus Wiiltuu. Alexander Stfvi-nson.
.1, Lilies W. Coll. Levi Frisbie. Albert \\ Cole. Elijah Xew-
.11. William McJtJtyre. Eleazar 11. Raunoy. Elijah An.irier.
(ieofi^'e W. Sturtevant, Fratieis fhiiriv, Ivl-A-ard Coltjuru.
JoflK. Ercnob. Dyor S. Hill. EiihiMiin lUill. ,Ir.. Nai-vev
.v:nith. A!)rani S!aa<:bter. A.sa Smith, D. .\J. Howard,
.•^tiikeiy H Stacy. J)<)rr .M. Howard, i^zekiel J^anj^burii. ]•".
.\la->on. ITmpbrcy Shei-man. Abram Hreeiey. E. HubL>ard.
.Si'woll Cuttintr. Willard Hartwell. Orriu Skinner, .John
-Stone. RuTus Barr. .Ziba Howard.
In December a new road was laid out near Hrainard's
l".)ri,'e '•tbrougb land.x of Deliverance Nichols. DyerS. Hill
.111(1 Nel.st)n Lewis. "
Kuad distric-t Xo. lo was changed to run from '"towr.
line at M. i*. WhaHoa"s north-east coi'uei' to the line of
Eutber An<iier s farm."
This^vear the three men who were elected County Su-
|>rrintendents of the Poor w^re H. J. I'ersonsand Wiiliani
L Merriam of Westi'ort. and Eli W. I^^^^im's of Whallous-
bur-h.
In May there was a .=;pecial Tf;wn ^Meetin^ to vote
ii|un) (lie qne-sticii of giviiiL^' licenses to liquor sellers.
'i his was ajiparentl\' the iiist time tiiat the ]K)iiit Inul
.-trispii. There \\-eie cast 20") votes, of which l-iO were
for ''Xo Liofiise," ami 11 f! for "License." This sliows
a ^reat change iu public opinion in thclast fifteen ^■ears.
Tljis aiid the next occurred the Mtwican War, luit it
seenis.not to liave stiDorl a ripj^le o]i the calm waters
<'f Westport society. I have heard that Mr. Waiter
Koot served in that war, Imt do nr.t know whether he
was a citi/.en <►*' Westport at that time.
There was a new school hriusi- huilt. at Wadhams.
Nvhich is .^.till in use, and it was of future importance t*.
<is that thi< year the first sewing tuachine was perfected,
.Ithoijyh it u as ii^ii <.»r tifti'on ve.'irs be.*'ure the lirst on^'^
K
44."^ II I ST 0 1! Y OF WHSTPOirr
WM.'^ bi'ouuljt into tliis town. 'JMiis w;is also tlio tiiai'
wlieu thr(3e-cout posta^^e was adopted, a (;l]an<i;i.' imme-
diately an'octing evoi-y iudividiial.
Town Meeting at Fl. J. J-*ersuD.
Juba flutch J.iovv, Supervisor.
William D. Holcomb. Clei-k.
- Samuel lioot and David S. MeLeod, Justices.
Ira Dowuey, Collector.
Abram M. Olds, Town Super iuteudeut of Schools.
Andrew Fri.sbie. Assessor.
Arcbibald Pattersou, Hi^rhway Commissioner.
Daniel W. T^raman. Joseph R. Delauo, David R. Wooil
rutV. Inspectors oi I'Llectiou.
' Albert \\ Cole and Joel F. Whitney, Po(^r Masters.
Ira Downey. I..oyal A. Baxter, Charles II. Eddy, Husc;!.
iloward and Anson C. Ro^s,'ers, Constables.
Samuel i{. Farnsworlh, Sealer of Wei^^htsand Measui-es.
Pathmasters. — Thomas Walton. Alexander Stevenson,
James \Y. Coll. Archibald Patterson. Albert P. Cole. Wll-
lard Frisbie. William H. Mclntyve, James [Marshall. Henry
lioyec. Geoi-ije W. Sturtevaul, Daniel French, Joel P.
Whitney. A. Finney, Geor^re Skiuner, Samuel Storrs, Jus-
tin Harris. Marous J. Huism^tou, Albei't Strioi;ham.
Luihev R. Hainuiond. Dennis B. Stacy, Dorr W. Howani.
Orlain Stock well, Julius W. Ferris. Moses Felt. Abran.>-
Greelev. Liei>nard Taylov^. Sewall Cutting, Julius N'aughan.
Orria Skinner, John Stone, T>evi Atwood. Ziba Iloward.
• In April theio was a special election^ hek) at tlo^
same liou.se, to decide a.^aiii uix)ii the liquor question
This time there were 31i> vi>tes, of which 191 were for
■'Liceusu'" ;uid \'1~> for "No License." This reversal of
tlie decision of the lu-eeijdiu;..^ year shows intense ai^i-
tation uf tlu^ tpiestion.
]NLr. S. Wheatoi) Cole write-? me thus ai>out this yeai- :.
"I was tiacluu;^ l\fty-tw< > ye;!.rs ;i,;^o the pa.st wuitcv "'.
K
in STORY OF wr.srroirr -/-/.v
the north side of tlie bridge. The l)rick school h(jaso
stood near the residouoo of !\Lr. William Olds, thf l)lack-
srnith. liev. Thomas Lrandt was ])astor of tlio ]'»aptist
«;harch, liev. Poiuoro}' of the M. E. church. The tJier-
cliants were B. R Douglass on the north side, John H.
Low, C. B. Hatch and Son, ^Yalker Eddy, William
Bichards aud Harvey Pierce ou the south side. Lake
Chauipluiu was covered with sailing vessels and steam-
ers tlien; there is scarcely one seen to-day. The entire
countr}- is cleared of its forests. The lake liad good
< locks aud warehouses in every town, to-day there are
hut ft?w. Chango is written on everything in th.e east,
yet I love to visit it."
Miss Augusta Ketit was also teaching at this time, a
primary school in one room of the Academy.
The Bev. Benjamin Pomeroy was not stationed here
■IS preacher until the years LS-19 anrl 1850. In 1847
Bcv. William W. Pierce was }>astor of the M. E. church,
aud in ISIS Bev. D. P. Hulburd. At this time the pas-
tor of llie Congreg.itional church was the Bev. Charles
.Si>ooner, who remained thirteen years, from 1841 to
18.31.
18-48.
Town MijetinLfat H. J. PtM'sou's.
William .1. Cuttiii.!:. Sup'-rvisor.
Samuel 11. Fanissvorth. Clerl:.
Juliii II. \j>)\\ and William D. Ilok-oaii), Justice^;.
Daniel W. (Jraman, Town SLipi-rinteudent of S;-bools.
Ira DowufV, Collector.
Cieo. Skinrier, Assessor.
.John Greely, Hi^jliwav Conunissioner.
Joci F. WlAluev and .\il)crt P. Cui-', I'cor Masl'T.-,.
^
4:10 iiisTOh'y or wrsrroin'
"Williatii 1\ .Mei-riam aud Kdiiiuiid J. Smith, rn'^])ectors
C'f Election.
Ira Duwiicy. Nathan Slau;^4itof, llat-ry N. Cole, Dorr W.
Howard. Anson C. Kogcrs, Constal)les.
J'^i't'oborii ]]. Paj^a"?, Sealer of \\\u;,djt.s and .Measures.
Diodorus l.foloonib ap].>ointL'(i luspcctor of Eleetion by
the Town lloard.
Pathmaslor.s.- -Thomas "Walton, llinklev Coll, Jarnes W.
Coll, Noel Merrill, Samuel W. Cole. Willard Frisbie. John
Greely, William P. Merriam, James I^]arshall, Elijah Aq-
;.'-icr, Coorpe W. SturtevatU, Jason J^ratnan. Joseph R.
Delano, Joel K. French, R. Woodruff. Alvin iiurt. Johnson
Hill, J. Nichols, Jr., David Smith, Dorr M. Howard, Hiram
Stacy, Fiobert Doty. Horace ^oodspeed, Julius W. Ferris.
Orrin Cronk, Lorenzo GibDs. Geor>{e Bennett, D. L. Allen.
J. H. Finnev, Orrin Skinner, James Fortune, W. Tuus-
dall, H. Howard.
'Geor^re Skinner api.winted assessor.
Miles M'F. Sawyer ap[)ointed Inspector of Election in
])laco of Diodorus Holeonib, who I'efnsed to accept.
At this town meeting the voiers all protested against a
reported petition which was to be ^n-esented to the Legis-
lature by the town of Essev, praying that "one mile wide
of Westport"' should be set off into Essex. This protesi-
\v'd Vote seems to have been siitllcient for the purpose in-
tended, as the Supervisor was instructed to send a copy
of the protest to our Representative at Albanv.
A highway was laid out. upon application of Franklin
H. Cutting and others, '"through lauds of the late Barna-
bas iNlyrick and of Franklin H. Cutting, beginning eighty
tlu'ee links north of the building formerly occu]ned for a
Hat Shop t^y Dan H. Kent, (who died two years before. >
ruuniug thence east nearly tc> the old stone mill, thence
south until it intersects the highway leading from Frank-
lin H. Cutting's store easterly to the lake."
A road was applitid for by Jonathan Nichol.^. to be laid
out •"through lands cf the late John Chandler. Calviii
Hammond, Charles Hammond, and Dennis and Joseph
Stacy." Mention is made of ""the late Gideon Hamuiond. "
and of a '"house being liuiit by Dennis Stacy. "
Town' Meeting adjourned ""to the Hotel of Ira HendL-r.
sou," which was kept by nis son-in-law, William iiicharcis.
Tl'.is year came Mr. aiul ]Mr.-.. Francis L, i.t-e. t'roni
jfisTom' or WL'STJ'O/rr ^r,i
3M->ston anJ built the house which tlioy callc-J "Stouy
Sides" on a hill north of the vilUige, ovedooking the
lake. Mr. Lee was accustomed to give as liis reason
lV)r building liere that he luid traveled through all parts
of the habitable globe, and had never found a spot with
a finer prospect nor with more natural advantages for
a home. His taste for landscape gardening' w-as fully
indulged in tlie care which hu bestowed upon the sur-
roundings of liis house, and many a garden and door-
vard in the village was also improved liy his advice,
and by the gift of bulbs and flowering shrubs which
still blossom every year to his memory. Henceforth
thx) family spent their summers here, and the winters
in Boston, or in travel. There were three sons and three
daughters, Francis W., Thomas, Robert, who died when
a child, !Mary, afterward Mrs. Matthew Halo of Albany,
Alice and Anne. There are now ten grandchildren :
Mrs. Hale's children are Elkn, Matthew, Mary, Robert
and Dorothy, and Mr. Francis W. Lee's are Mary, Guy
Hunter, Isabella, Alice and' Susan.
A year or so before tliis time Mr. Francis H. Jackson
of Boston, already connected with the Port Henry Iron
Company, had bought the Sisco farm, on the sliore of
the bay, about a mile north of Hatch's wharf. This was
a beautiful spot, with a wooded point enclosing a tiny
bay, and commanding a wide \ iew of the lake to the
southward. Hen^ on the point he built his house, and
iu 184:8 completed one of the-tinest irou furnaces ever
■^kien upon the lake. It is said to have cost one hundred
thoui.and dollar.-, and with the well-known ingratitude
4.yj Jiisrom' of wksti'OUT
■^o ofttMi found in costly l.iuilJings, never vt-tunKHl to its
buiklers oiif-tontli of tlie ]>vi(.'c. Mr. Jackson called it
the Sisco furnace, after the natue of the people who
hatl lived so lon^ on the place, and the little bay has
always been called the Sisco bay. A dozen workmen's
jionses, a largo house for the book-keeper, offices, a
store and a. long row of gi;int coal kilns, with a wharf
fcir the boat-i of the company, made np a village of per-
haps a hundred souls, and it was soon given the popu-
lar name of "Jacksonville." There was never a post-
oflicc there, but the place had a mail-bag of its own.
The writer carno upon a bit of liumor in a recent Bos-
ton story called "A Family Affair" which will be cpiite
as well aj)]Meciated in \\'estport as it could be in Bos-
ton : "There are Jacksons and Jacksons. As every-
body knows, aiany, pc'ssibly most of those who bear
that title might as well have been called Jones or Rob-
inson; on the other hand J. am told that certain Massa-
chusetts families of that name will, on solicitation, ad-
mit it to be th.'ir belief that Eve was a Cabot and Adam
a Jackson." ^Ve may pride ourselves that it was not
an ordinary Jackson, but one of the last named Gar-
den-of-Edcn Jacksons, of the first families of Boston,
ivhd gave the name to Jacksonvil!e-iu-Northwest-Bay.
Watson says : "The motive power of the Sisco fur-
nace was steam, and its prorbicts pig iron. 'J'he or*.,
used was chielly from tlie Cheever bed, and ifi part
from a bed two or three miles west of the village of
Westpovt, and owned by the proprietors of the fur-
nace." Th;.-; liK-ans the rv.Hi'e liill mine, iullie muunt-
iiJSToiiY OF WFSTro/rr -io.i
.liii just west of the Mouutaiu Spring road, back of thf3
McMiihon place. Tins ore bed was opeued soon after
tbat at Xichols Poud called the Campbell bed. The
ore was soon found to be titanifci-ous, and therefore
not available for use in the furnace, but large quantities
of the Morlah ore were manufactured. Says Watson :
"In 18-17 Lee ct Sherman effected a sale of twenty
thousand tons to F. 11. Jackso}i of the Siseo furnace at
"Westport. This was the first sale made of ore to be
used in fuiiiace.-^." Charles Hatch, writing at about
this time, say.s proudly, "We now find ourselves situ-
ated in a pleasant Tillage of about one thousand in-
habitants, plentifull}- supplied with all the necessaries
of life and many luxuries, having now a variety of fac-
tories, among (jthers a furnace which makes from
six to nine tons of iron per day." This must have been
its maximum production, and one not steadil}- main-
tained for the eight or nine years in which the furnace
remained in the ]>ossession of Mr. Jackson. In 1S57
the property passed out of his liands, but I believe that
the family had returned to Boston before that time,
tiie house being occupied for several years by Mr.
Ralph A. Loveland, who had charge of the business.
Before this, ^Ir. Silas H. Witherbee of Fort Henry was
manager aud Mr. Victor C. Speucer book-keeper. Af-
terward the property was owned by George W. GoiV,
who resided in the village.
It was at this period, not long after the opening of
the Sisco furnace, that the old forge site on the upper
J31ae-k river Avas again built upon. This had l)ee)i the
454 iiisTom' OF WL'STroirr
scene of tlie first operutious of Jonas ]Mov<:,'an, botweon
the time of his reccivinji^ the hiiger pateut from the state
in 179'J, and the year 1S07. He built his forge on the
Elizabethtown side of the river, "nearly opposite the
Ira Daniels farm house," as J am told by an old resi-
dent of the Black river country. Later he sold the
forge to Jacob Southwell, and not long after tlie con-
clusion of the v^ar of 1812 the property was owned by
Captain John Lobdell. Barnabas Myrick had also an
interest hoie, ])roba\)ly in partnership with Captain
Lobdell, and 1 think ran a saw mill at this phice. The
freshet of 1830 wrought grt^at damage, and it is not
certain that tljere was any business done here at all
from that time until Guy Meigs''- came not long pre-
vious to 1850. He rebuilt the forge on the old site,
^\ ith a saw mill and his own dwelling house on the op-
posite or Westport side of the river, and here for a time
he gave employujent to a number of men, but in one of
the frequent dei)ressions in the iron business he suf-
fered considerable loss, and eoncludtd to try his for-
tunes once more in the vrest. He left town in 1855, and
since then there has been no iron made at the place
»Guy Meiifs came of tliat old and honora*>le Alei^s family which has supplied
orficers to every war ot the Uniied States. Majar Return Jor.uthm Mfif,'s wen',
with Arnold to Ouebcc in 1775, and there joining- Montgomery, participated in the
attack upon Quehec, and was taken prisoner in the failure of the assault. Guy
Meigs (horn 1817, died 1SS5) was th-.- oldest son of Capl;iin I.utlier Meigs, a soldier
of tlie war of iSii, and grandson of l^T.j.tinin Stone Meigs, one of the pion-
eers of northern Vermont. Eight towiiS and one county, besides at least two forts,
have been named after members of this -Meigs family, and the mountain hamlet ivn
the lonely couise of ti'.e Black river nixy well keep its title for the sake of these
tt!>^ociat:aoj>.
JIl STORY OF W EST r OUT 435
tl'.iit luis been called for fifty years "Meigsville." Tho
^a^v i)n"ll has been in operation of late years, o\vnt.'<l by
James E. Patten.
lM-10.
Tou-n Meeting,' at tlio Ian of Williarn KicLards.
William JI. Cultint,', Supervisor.
Freeboru H. Pa^^e, Clerk. • ' ;,
Jason ]Jrauiau_. Justice.
Barton P. Hammond, Collector.
Aaron H. Mack, Assessor.
1). P. Savre. Pii^hwav Commissioaer.
Aari)n Clark and D. .Sjanstield Howard, Poor Masters.
Miios ^^P. Sawyei', Penjatnin P. Holcomb. H. K. Smitii.
Pispectors of Election.
h-a Downey, Nathan Slaii^rhter. Harry N. Cole. Barton
P. Hammond, A. C. Po^rers, Constables.
Alvin Davis, Scaler of Wei^j^hts and Measures.
J'atbmasters. — Thomas Walton, Hinkley Coll, Samuel
lioot. Noel Merrill. William Joiner. Asa Loveland, William
liichards. Darius .slerriam, James Marshall, ^lontgumery
Pike Whallon. Henry Betts. Titus M. Mitchell Benjamin
I lardy. Asa Finney, David R. \Voodruri. \\'iUiam Pawrence.
Harvey Smith, Marcus J. Hoisinj<ton. Aiouzo Slau^rhter,
Piatt Sheldon, Jonathan Nichols. John Ormistoti. Horace
<roodspccd, Francis Mason, Orrin B. Cronk. Abran) Gree-
iy, William C. West, Pindjcu Brown, Peonard "Wares, D.
M. Nichols. John Stone. Edwin Truesdall. Myron Chappell.
VoY the tirst time we find it recorded that voters were
challen^'cd and obli;L,'ed to swear that they were legal vo-
ters in Westport. Six men were challenofed and took the
reijuired oath: Electo Dupree, John Miller. William Wil-
son. James Pi-anard. Chandler Dutton, H. N. Tabor.
Town Mectini: adjourned to \\. J. Person's.
Noel Merrill was afterward appointed Collector in placo
uf B. B. Hammond, who had moved away.
This reminds us tliat this year and the next saw tlie
departure of all the family of the Hammonds, l^eacon
(iide<m Haijimond had died iu 1810, and his widow and
4:>fj uisroin' OF wkstpout
eliiUlri'ii soon decidod to eiui;:;rute to tJie wt'st. Neigh-
bors of theirs in the western part of the town, tlie Xieh-
ols, Sloughters and Staey's, with soujo others, took part
in the general exodus, and they all settled in or near
Camnnche, Iowa, on the ^Mississippi river. This ruaJe
a little Bai)tist colony, and there a new clun'ch was
formed, containing between twenty and thirty original
members Jroin the Westport Bai^tist church.
Notwithstanding the attraction of tlie new lands of
the west, which drew away a large nuniber c»f our best
citizens, young men were coming in from all directions
to take u]) business enterprises. John C. Osborne, a
^■Qung Englisliman, o]>ened a harness shop, J. Nelson
Barton,^ coming from Crown Point, was a carriage ma-
ker, Peter P. Bacon, from St. Pierre, P. Q., soon opened
a shoe sliop, and William Douglass a blacksmith shop.
Mr. Osborne afterward built the large house just north
of the Armor^v. His children were George, who has
continued his father's business after the death of
the latter, Maria, who married John Gregory, and
John, afterward Governor of Wyoming, and owner of
•One interesting fact about the Essex County Bartons is that they are desctndcJ
from one of the Salem witches— that is, from one of the unfortunate womt-n who
were accused, of witchcraft at Salun in i7c>S. Sarali Cloy>c was accustrd,
tried and sentenced to be hun^-, but escaped froui prison and was
hidden by her friends. She had two siiters who were hung- for the crime of witch-
craft. Her diughtcr by her first hush.ind, Hannah Brid^'es, inarried Samuel Bar-
ton, and tlie line co;iies down through Joshua, Timothy and Timothy Slow to
Simon, who came to Moriah in iSii. Simon Barton's wife was Olive Cary, daugh-
ter of John, and sixth in direct descent from the orisfinal immiirrant John Carv,
who came of the line of Sir Robert Cary, Brave stories are told of Sir Robtrl, hut
^\e do not love hitn as we love ^rent'e Good wife Cloyse, who suffered such Uitttr
IH-'.fC'-.ulion;. at the h.\'id> of fie S ilcin witi:h hunters.
iiisToin' OF \vrsT/'()/rr
457
large cattle rar.clies in tliat statr. Mr. EiluarJ Os-
Imrno, brother of John 0;^boiue, Senior, came to AVest-
]>()rt later, after the war.
3Ir. ]>acon marrie'l Louise Joubtat, and their chib
(lienvere: 1. Eliza, nia)-ried Corr(t4ius lUauin^tMH. 2.
bla, niai'ried John ]McConuick of Ticondrro^T.t, :j.
I'-inina, married Dr. Charles Holt, son of Augustus l*.
Moll. I. iMarie, married IlariT I*. Sn:ith, uoav maua-
j^i-r of the Westport Inn. 5. Osite, married Jcdiu H.
JiOw, sou of Edwiii B. Lou.
~Mv. Douglass, (not, ] think, I'elated to the l'an;il_v of
Kbenezer Douglass,) married Marion Havens, daughter
of Asahel Ha\eMs. Their family rectad is a mournful
one of early deaths. Clarence died as a child, James
and Walter in their teens. Alice iiiarried Orcelius
Olds, Chu-ii married Will Cross, and Lottie mariieil
A\'ill Ciirey., and all died young. 'J'hree sons, Carlos,
Will and Ben, ore .stilJ livijig in 11k- west, with thuir
families.
This year and the next M)-. George ^^^ (Jlotl^' was
Mcmbei- of Assembly. To Mr. Goil' is giveii the credit
of etl'ecting .the uev.- division V;etweeu We.-tport anul
Morrah^ by "which -the southern boundary of Gillijand's
lit-ssboro was made the southern bouuda,ry of the town.
This -ehangc gave the Cheever ore bed, then just devel-
oping in importance, t(» Mi»riah. Aaron lb 31ack was
sherifi' of the count}- b;r this i.ind the iuo following
years.
lu 1819 were built the first Vermont railroads, run-
-•liu'r north and ^outb tUroui-'h the stati.-. on H-ach siib-
4oS Hisroh'Y OF WEsrroirr
of tlio Green luountaius. Tlius the Cli.-iaiplaiu valley
first oclioed to tljo shriek of the iron horse, and thr
dwellers on the wesu-rn shore tirst saw the white {nilT of
steam against the inountains as they looked across the
lake. Not for twenty-seven years did we have a rail-
road on this side of the lake which Meut through froiii
Albany to Montreal.
In 1S-J1> v.as^or'.;anizeil the first L'ssox County Agri-
cultural .Society, in Keeseville, wliere the first fair w;i?;
- held. From 1850 to ISGo the annual fair was held in
Elizabethtown, and since then it has been held in West-
port. This is also the year in which a most remarka-
ble figure a})peared in Essex county, and was frequently
seen at the county fair for the next five or six vears,
driving t\ll the way from the high mountain plateau of
North Elba tine blooded cattle for exhibitiou. The re-
port of the Society for 1850 refers to "a number (jf very
choice and beautiful Devons from the herds of Mr. John
]-5)(»\vn, residing in one of our mo.->t remote and secludeil
towns." 'ihis v/as n.jn* other than 'John Erov.ii of
Ossawatomie," who died ten yeai's afterward at Har-
per's Ferry. He ^vas often seeu in Westport, going
and coming on his many journeys, and was looked U])oii.
as an eccentric person with an absurd idea of estaltlish-
ing a colony of free negroes iin. tlie free/ing. climate oi
^orth Elba,.
/
insToin' OF ]VKSTrouT 450
i.sr)().
Town Mcetiiij,' belci at the ]un of Fi. J. Persou's.
Hal])h A Lovcland. Sii[ierv;sor.
P.artou B. Richards. Clerk.
.David S. MeLeod, Justice.
Andrew Frisbie. JoLiu II. r>ou and John 1v. .Merrian),
Asse.s.-sors.
Noel Merrill, Ct>llector.
S. \V. Cole, Siiporiutendent of Coininou Schools.
Samuel Root, Hit^hway Commissioner.
D. M. Howard. L. \V.' Pollard. Poor Musters.
Aaron Clark. \\ 11. Sayre. David R. Woodrurt'. Inspec-
tors of I'^lei-tlon.
Noel Merrill. J. F. Whitney. Ira Dowuey, D. M. Hov/jrd.
1>. B. Stacy, Constables.
Alvin Davis. Sealer of Weights and Measures.
Road district No. 1 dropi.jcd. since it^ ten-itury now be-
in mrs to Moriab.
Pathma.sters.— Hinkley Coll. Benjamin Warren. Andrew
Frisl)ie, Lorrin Cole, A.sa Loveland". William S'lail. Darius
-Merriam. James Marshall. Cvrus Royee. Henry Betts A-
K. Wadhams. Benjamiii Warren, Syl\'ester Youni/. Jared
iioodall, William Laurence, Johnson Hill, Marcus J. Hoi.->-
inirton. Aloui'-o Slaughter, Dennis Person, Ed wa'.'d Harper,
J.>hn Orm.iston. Orsoc Stockwell. Lee Prouty, AbraniSher-
niaji. William Bennett.- Joel B. Finney, Depondance Nich-
ols. John Stone. Edwin Trusdall, Jol/n Mdiei-.
Aaron B. Mack havini^ been elected SheriR of the County,
rtsi^'ued his otl.'ce as Assess')r.
lu 1850 the towuship uuinV>c.reil 2J'52 in population,
u number never siuce equaled. The furnace at Jaek-
si-)nville employeLl iriaoy men iu every capacity, ;inJ all
through the back country v.ooil cutters had couje iii t<>
•cut and drav.- the wood for its use. All kin Is of Inisi-
iiess ]>n>spered. D. L. Allen esteuded his wharf ;i
liuudred feet farther into the lake to aecouiuiodate thc
increaseJ shipping, and' the chances are that if the
place had been to name a<zaiu at this time it would lune
.''cou .Sou.jctb!.UL'-or-otJi..;r-opolis.
/
400 J [[STORY OF ]yj:sT/'0[rr
Xow Jenny Liml was sirigiijg i)i Now York, and lier
fame drew a number of Westport pei')ple to the citj- to
liear ber. I know the name of but one who went tliron^di
hike, canal and river, on a packet boat, to the metrop-
olis, and that one was Mr?. Miles M'F. Sawyer, who
visited at Dr. Eauuey's and came back with many a
traveler's tale aiul notes uj^ou the hdesfc fashious. Tijeu
women wore great hoops, over.-[H'e;id with voluniiuous
gathered skirts, tight bodices with belts, large fiowiitg
sieeves.ofteu with lace or embroidery under-sleeves, and
wide fiat collars of lace or neodle-work which lay
Hat ujion their shoulders, encircling the base of the
neck. Tiie shoulder seams of the bodices were uncon-
scionably long, and the hair was worn coa)bed
smoothly down over the ears and coiled in a knot at tlie
back, the ideal of perfection being a satiu-smooth sur-
face, without a stray hair floating. The bonnets v.ere
not so large as those worn in the thirties, but were still
often "poke" in shaj<e, of the kind called "cottage bon-
net.'' And vei-y nic<* oar grandmothers looked in hoops
and mantilla, with black mitts covering all but the lin-
gers of their hands, as they sailed up the church aisle
of a Sunday. It t jok both grace and genius to manage
a hoop well, and get it gracefully througli narrow doors,
l>ut surely nothing dis[)layed a rich dress fabric to bet-
\ter advantage. At this time changeable silks were much
in favor, and the shimmering breadths, billowing out
from a ^lendcr waist, were very pretty. When Mar-
garet Angier married Harvey Pierce she had a red and
grtcu chaugeabh- .-,illv for a \vijd'_liug ^ir^ss, and it was
/
JIISTORY OF WKSTPORT 401
oarofully laid away to bo shown to tlir geiuM'ations
following, My grandmother used to wear a wide-flow-
ing dress made of what they called "Mexican grena-
dine," a soft gray ground with green and puiph' flowers,
and over this she spread a niantilki of changeuhle h\\\o
and green silk, triomied with "milliner's fv>lds" c>i the
same, laid on with the most exquisite stitches. The
earliest daguerreotypes show many of these cc^stumes.
1853.
Town Mcetini^ at the Inn of IT. J. Person's.
BoDJatnin W'urren, Super'viscr.
Barton B. i-liebards, Clerk.
William D. Holcomb, Justice.
John L. Mcrriam. Assessor.
Aaron Clark, Collector.
Jared Goodale, Highway Coauuissioucr.
D. M. Howard and L. \V. Pollard, Overseers of the Poor.
Benjamin V. Holcomb. David S. McLeod, Cyrus \V.
liicbards. Inspectors of Election.
Ira Downev, Perrin J. Aini'cr, Richaid Brown. Aaron
Clark, Dennis B. Stacy, Constables.
Alvin Davis, Sealer of Wei.s^bts and Measures.
Parliinasters.- Hinkley Coll, B. I. Warren. i-Teury Vv\^-
bie. A. P. Cole. Asa Loveiaud. William Mclutvre, Joseph
.hunes. Saunel Anderson, Henry Boyce, Henry Belts,
I'^lijah WriLfht, Benjamin Hardy, Sylvester Young, Rus-
seil Wooc^rutY, Royal Storrs. Johnson Hill, Jonathan Nich-
ols, Leonard Averv. YLW Wood. Warren Pooler, Alvin
I3urt. Orson Stock well, Luman Hubbard. Titus Sherman,
>^tevou Jackwofth. Leonai-d Taylor, Charles Vaughan.
Orrin Skinner, James FortuiK\ Kdward Tru.sdaie, John
•Miller.
Two men challenged. Loreuz.) B. Nichols and Krastus
Huntley.
\'oted to raise .^l.'iO.Olj for support of the poor.
it is hard to tell from the meagre accounts left of the
existence of tlie Essex Countv Ae.-ideniv, liow Ion:; it
/
■i02 IllSTOh'Y OF WLSTJ'Oirr
reiDaiiHMl tlie L.-adin-" schoc)! in the county, but we are.
inclincil to tliink that its tlrsl. tlays were jx'ihaj^s its l.»est,
at least so far as the eilneatiou of the older class of
academic students is cotieenied. About 1850 or ISol
there were young i)eo[)le sent aAvay to private boardini:
schocfls in Vermont, as Phebe and Piatt Sawyer were
sent tu Jjakerstield, aiid a little later their brother li'v-
iug was Heiit to the school in Fairfax, Vt. Miss W'il-
-lard's famous scJiool for girls in Troy was uo longer
open, Miss Willard, I think, being engaged in visiting
other female seminaries, both uorth and south, and lec-
turing upon C'ducation. Some of the Westport youtli
were sent to the Academy at Keeseville, and ther-'
Alonzo Alden studied from 1851 to 1S53. It was not
uncommon for the girls to be sent to the convent sehotjls
in Montreal, in spite of the rigid Protestantism Mhich
prevailed, for a ceit;iin dainty tlnish -avA demureness
of manner wliich was ac(piired there, together with tli-'
,.incomparal>le needle-work which was. taught.
Looking ovei- a sheaf of old letters, 1 tind one from
Klias Sturtovaut to, his son John in Gasport, dated,
Westport, April 7, iSol, in which he gives this, with
other bits ot new.-. : "Mr. Hunter has built a steam saw-
mill at Piock Harbour and s<.)ld it to Moses Felt fur
^5000 with oOO- acres of land." It was this mill which
ate away all the magniticent first-growth pine of North
Sh(;re, which was rafted away by v.ater. The forest
which now. covers it is. 1 a.av told, all a second, jrrowtb.
iiisToin' OF wicsrroirr . 4<;3
Town Moctiii'^r at 11. J. Persuu s.
I>iiniel ^\'. Mra!!i;ui. SniH'fvi.si.i!-.
I^arton R. Kicluifds. Clerk.
Pbiueas N. Hartv\'eiLSuperiiiti'U(.ieat()f ('otiinion ScbDoLs.
.\<a Aikcn.-^ iind (?_vriis \V. lliclujrds, .Justices.
llarrs J. Person. Assessor. ■
William Piichards. Highway Coinniissionor.
Dennis B. Stac>-. Collector.
I'cter F»M-ris and Renjaniin P. flMlcimh. Pnw Mastevs.
Miles M'P. Sawyer. David K. W'oudiull vnd i''fi'oborti
II. Paj^e. iDspertors.
Dennis B. ^taey. Ira Downey, Aaron Clark, liiehard
ProwD. J^ew \V. Pollard. Constables.
il.-nry H. Holeoiub, Sealer of \Vei<;Ltsand Measures.
i'atuniaster.^. — Hinkley Coll. Israel Pattis^n, Arc-liibald
Pattison, Aucjustus Flolt. Asa Lo.velaud. William Melntyre.
Darius Merriam. Janjes Marsiiall. Klijab Anjjier. Ceori/e
W. Stiirti'vaut, Jasiju Praman. ,Iue! Wliitiu'y. Ar/.i J-'inufy,
.\rteinas Martvreli. Joshua Sla.uLdUer. Johnson Mill. John
P. Nichols. Asa Smith. Piatt Sdeldon, Horace Atwood.
JmIid Orniston. Joseph Atwo.iJ. Julius Pen-is. Orren
<'i-onk. Stoven Jackworth. Orreii Tavlor. Tieonard Wares,
J^ M. Nietjols. John Stonr. KJu-rd Trucsdalo. John
•Mill^-i-.
.Adjourned to th.' ! im df Williani Richards.
AVhatever. the eariy history of Fice ]\ias<.iirv in
^Vest{)ort. it is certain tliat the liresent lodnc was eslali-
lislied ill 18o"2 hy reconiiueiKlati<ui of Morniiif;; Bun
P>a-e. Xo. JJ:>, which had bcfu estxhlishod in Port
lliury four years before. .At this time \\'e>;tiM>rt was
in tlie iiiL,'h tide of jij'osjierity. the centre and source of
wliich was the iron l)usitie.ss and the fine new Sisco
lurnace, therefore it scetned .apiiropviate to lecni^nize
tids iu the name of the new halge, and it was called
Si.>co L()d;j;e, Xo. '2~)\i. The lirst otUi-ers were («eorf,M^
\I. Pdi.ni." W. M.; John I'.owers, S. W.; Charles
}y Hatch. J. W. Ovoyi/^ Ji JJ.Ijin., had beeJi oue oltLn-
y*
^4tji iJisTiiiry OF wi:srroirr
lir.st OiHcors iA tlio PdiI llonry lo.l^c% beiii'.; J. \s. in
18:t8 and W. ^l. in 1849, thorefcji.' it would seem tlial
lie liiul moveil into AYestport not long before this time.
Tbe lodge moetiugs were held here only four years
after organization, deoliuiuj]; with the decline and fall of
the Sisoo furnace after which it had been named, since
Jackson's failure occurred in 18o7, and the lodge meet-
ings \\orc held in Whalloijsburgh from ISoG to 1870.
Up to that time the blasters had been George H. Blinn,
'Asa V. Hammond of Wadhams ^lilLs, Lewis Cady of
Whallonsburgh, Jojm Burt, Jr., of Essex, Willett K.
Ilogers of Whallonsburgjj, Eli W. Eogers of Whallons-
burgh, and Philetus 1). Merriam, W'est}>oit. In 1870
the meetings i>egau to be held in AVcstport again, where
thG3' have been held ever since, the successive Masters
being in every case Westport meii. John J. Greeley
has held the otiice, not contiuuou.sly, for over fifte^Ml
years, varied by occasional terms of .service from George
C. Osborne, Henry I. Stone and Xelsoii J. Gibbs.
The Mason's hall was in the second story of the build-
ing on the corner oi' \Yashingtou and Main, (formerly
occupitxl as the printing otKce of the Westport news-
paper,; until the burning of the whole block, Aug. lotli,.
187 (i When tlu> block was rebuilt,, the Masons owned
the northern third, renting tlie- lower floor and occupy-
ing the second ttf>or sw a hall. A new charter w^as
granted Junie 27th, 1877, and on Septeml>or 2Gth the
new iiall wa-s iledicated. About tive hundre<l ]Mason^
were piesc^it on thr.t occasion, from lodges on l)otl:
si<.lcs. ol! tl'jc l.i-ke, W-ilIl ili>; iJe ^i.ito Commandei:\
jiiSTonr OF wKsrroirr ■ 46.%
Kiiigiit.s Teuiplar of rialtsburgh, tlio Knii:-lits Templar
of Barliugton, aocompaDied by the Queen City baiul.
The wives of tlie Masous of Sisco Lodge provided re-
freshments, and the social occasion was a great success.
Afterward, when the Westport Inn was opened, this
block was sold, and the lodge moved once more, to the
rooms iu the flat over the post ofHee, which it still oc-
cupies. Lodge-meetiiigs are held ou the fast and third
.Saturdays of the month.
The name of Augustus Holt in the tov.'n records re-^
minds us that Aiva Holt had nov,- come from Keeue,
and was living iu tlie stone house at the forks of the
road south of the village, formerly occu}>ied by the
Jxogors family. Alva Holt had four sons, Charles Holt
of Keeue, Snath Holt of ^\'illsboro, Henry Holt of Bo-
ijuet, and Augustus, who is still living in Westport,
having been suj^ervisor of the t-owm His daughter
<,^arrie is now Mrs. Shelley, of Xev>' York, and his son,
Charles, has practiced dentistry 'u\ his native place for
several years. Mrs. Jleubtn J. lugalls is a daughter of
Alva Holt
1853.
Towu ikvtin<;rat K. J. Person's.
l\<ilpb A. Lo\elaud, Supervisur,
Hira^n II. Downey. Clerk.
Jasou Jiramau. Justice.
Archibald I'attis(ju, Assessor.
Samuel Rr>ot. tliijhway Cotnmisslouer.
Peter Ferris and LutLer Ao^ier. Poor Masters.
William Mclntyrc. William Doui^iass, WiUiam P. Mer-
• LMti. Ju->]...Lt:.-rs of Elf'tJc:.
4r,G in ST our OF w/jsT/'o/rr
Dennis B. Stacy, Ira TJuwiicy. Kichard Brown, Harry
N. Cole. Constables.
Pathmaster.s. — Alpheus Stoue. Israel I'attisou. Hira!!!
Cole, S. Wlioatou Cole, Jeremiah Fliini. John flreeiey.
Joseph James, Merlin Angier, Luther Arjo-iei-. Geor^^e W.
Stuvtovaiit, J. R. Whitney. Joel Whitney, B. F. Spragae,
D. R. WoodrutT, Samncl Storrs. Harvey Smith, Barney
Boyle. Vv'illiauj Downey, Eli Wood. Eleazer Welch, Jesse
Sherman, Solomon Slockwell, Julius Ferris, Moses Felt.
Franklin Bennett, Leonard Ware, D. N. Nichols, Jame.s
Fortune. Edward Trnesdale. fjiram iinward.
Town Meeting adjourned to the Innof William Richards.
This year was built tlie steamboat Canada, the larg
est yet built on the lake, 2G0 feet loug, 30 feet wide and
lO.l feet deep, witli a speed of 17 miles an hour. Capt.
S. Ii. Foster stood on her deck, and as sbe ran until
]S70, njan}- of us can remember lier rip;ht well as she
came grandly to the wharf every day in summer, the
deliglit of all the youthful population to whom the ar-
rival of the line boats, and their discbarge of freight
and passengers, will abvays be a most interesting event.
Town .Meering held at the Inn of \ViHiam Richards.
Failph A. Loveland, Supervisor.
Freetjoru II. Page, Clerk.
John F-Jateh Ia)w, Justice.
(iuy Stevens, Collector.
D. L. Allen and Calviu Fisher. Assessors.
Elijah Wright. Highwav Corn(nissioner.
Abram .^b Olds, Superintendent of Common Schools.
Titus M. Mitchell and William Mclutyre, Poor Master.s,
Flarry N. C(.)le, Joel F. Whitney. Phirvey Pierce, Inspee
tors of Election.
Guy Stevens, B. F. Holcoml.). .1. F. Whitney, Tru Downev
John'Mitchell, Constaolcs.
Edwin R. Person, Sealer tif Weii.rhts and Measures.
lusTunv OF WKSTi'Oirr 407
The Ili^'lr.vay Commissioner rejtorts that it will he iioe-
»-.ss:ify to raise siidO.UD the present year.
Patlitnasters. — Alpheus Stone, Heury Iv ^Vurrl.■n. Arch-
ibald Patterson. Harry X. Cole. John Mitchell, Williaiti
Mclntyre, P. D. Merriam, James Marshall, Luther Angler,
(reorcfe W. Sturtevaut, liCvi Cross. Cicero Sayre, V>. T.
Spraf^vi"', David R. WoodrulT. Calvin Pratt, Harvey Smith,
Asahel Havens, Ijeonard Avery. Kli Wc^od. Eleazar Welch,
John Ortniston, Ira Allen, L^e Prouty, Titus Sherman,
<ieortro Bennett, WillardHai-tvvell. George Vauc^han. James
l-'ortune, f^dward Truesdale. Edwin Thompson.
Adjourned to tlie luu of H. J. Person.
Phineas N. HartweU resigned the oflice of Si;peiintend-
'Mit oi Common Schools and Abrana Marshall Olds u-as ap-
pointed in his place.
Survey of road to Youug"s J^ay. •'Beginning on the
eastern boundary of the highv.ay leading from Wcst[)Ort to
Archibald Patterson's thirty-eight links northerly from
the south corner of Andrew Frisbie's I'arni, to tlie lake
shore." J. K. French, Surveyor.
'^IMii.s year Jan^es A. Alien bought the southeru or
Hatch wliavf, ami for about tvi-euty-live years either of
our jniuoipal wharves might be spoken of as ''Alleu'.s
wharf," since D. L. .Alh^u had owned tlie northern or
Doughi.ss wharf since 1845. The Hatch wharf was sold
to C'apt. Samuel Price in 1879, and then to David Clark,
wlio now owns it. The Douglass wharf was sold to
Daniel F. Payne in 1880, and is still in his possession,
1855.
Town Me<'ting at the Inn of H. J. Person's.
Cepnas Bradley. Supervis/jr.
ikMijamiu F. Ihjlconib. Clerk.
Miles M'F. Sawyer, Justice.
William L. Wadhanis. Assessor.
Danifl M. Howard. Highway Commissioner.
William McHityre and Artemas Hai-twL-U. Poor Masters,
Lori'uzo (iibbs, Hiukley Coil. Dan W. Braman, Jnspec-
n->. ...f i:
s
4GS HISTORY OF \Vl\STPOIiT
' Iru Henderiion, Collector.
Horace Buruos. Joel F. Whitney. Ira ITonderson, Alvii)
Davis, Ricbaril IJrovvn, Coostiioles.
Pathmaster.s. — Alpbeus Stoue. Henry E. Warren. Levi
F'-isbio, Isaai- T). Lyon, .Tnuatbao [Tolcomb, D. L Allen.
Josepb James, James Marshall. Newell Kcou-lion. Georifo
W. Sturtevaiit, Elijah Wrij„'ht, Josepb E. Siniib, Sylvester
Young, Aostin Biuelow, Howard H. Farnsworth. Harvey
Smith. Asahel Htivons, x\sa Smith, Albert Carpenter, Al-
vin Peasley. F. 13. Howard, John McCouley, Lee Prouty,
Cyrus Koyce, Leonard Taylor, William Pierce, Geor^'c
Vau^rbao, Jarr.es Fortune. Edward Truesdell, Edwin
Tiuimpsou.
AlvaS. Holl was appointed Pathniaster in the place of
Isaac D. Lyon.
Road district No. 26 was newly formed, and began "at
the west line of the lot of Juleazer U'elch. and runuiuu: west
to the west lino of the land of William P. and Philetus D.
iVJerriam." P. D. Merriam was path'naster of ihe district.
Tliis means a new roatl distiiot in the XroD Ore Tract,
on the road to Seventy-five, where W. P. A: P. D. Mer-
liain had their coal kilns, and where the trail went in to
the ore bed at Nichols Poud, jvist now beginning to be
road out to the highway, as an outlet for their ore and
an inlet for their miniug sup]ib'es and macliiuery.
Another tragedy upon the water. Four young men
came up the lake from Montreal in a pleasure yacht.
Two of them v.ere brothers natiied ^Yebster, relatives
of the Ferrises, and of the third wife of Judge Charles
Hatch. One day, in November, John Ferris and his
son Peter joined the jiarty in the yaclit, and they sailed
southward. Near Crciwu Point the boat was. upset, and
the six men clung to the boat sides and rigging and
floated about, calling for help, until completely chillecl
S
HISTORY OF WEST PORT 460
ami e^vh:luste'-l. One by oijO the four young niou from
.Montreal lost each his hold and sunk from sic^ht. John
I'erris was au older man and a Inirdier, and hisstrongtli
held out until helji arrived.* Peter Ferris was rescued
in an nncousciou-. condition, only saved by tlie singular
fact that the fingers of one of his hands were stiffened,
from the effects of a scalding in infancy, so that he had
n<j power to straighten them. This hand was hooked
over a rope or some part of the boat and held him there
after he became insensible.
After 3Ir. Peter Ferj-is died I was permitted to look
over some of his papers, and among them there was
such a pathetic letter from the father of the two young
^Yebsters who were drowned, written to John Ferris
immediately after. In it he says, "I sincerely thank
God that he has spared you your ouly son, although
we have lost all of ours," — a resignation, it seemed to
me, niore piteous than the most clamorous grief.
It w ould seem froiji the fact there had been no camp
meeting held in town for eleven years that these out-
door gatherings for religious exercises had fallen some-
what into disfavor. Luxury and refinement of living
had greatly increased since the eaidy da}s of immense
♦One not accustomed to our waters will find it hard to realize the thill of the icy
waves Af November. Fresh water has not tlie buoyancy of salt water, and i^ is
more difiicuit to swim or to float in it on that account. Its etfcct is also more encr-
V itin^. A few summers ajjo a younjj; lady ac Kock Harb jr swam across the lake
from Basin Harbor to Cr\limily Point, a distance of one mile and twenty reds
This was a much more difficult feat than may appear to a person accustomed only
to salt water. It was accomplished in safety, but followed by alarminjj chills and
exhaustion. If we have not the dangers of the surf and the undertow, neitlicr
have we the exhilaration of the ocean waves.
s
470 IlISTunV OF \\'/:STJ'ORT
fitteiidaiicc at can)]) ineetiDgs, and drmbtlcssj a genora-
tiou bad arisen which would ii'jt brave the discomfort
of primitive camp life, in al! we.tthers, for the >;ake of
preaching which might as well be heard, perhaps, in-
side their commodious churches. Nevertheless, this
year a camp meeting was hold, not as before near the
lake shore, but in the northei'n part of the town, on land
of Frank Bennett's, west of V\'adhams Mills. And these
meetings -were no longer representative of all denomi-
nations, as in the early days, bat now belonged almost
entirely to the M. E. church.
In Josepli Cook's histor}- of Ticonderoga Ave find
that the first mower in that town, which was also the
first in the Champlaiu valley, was used in June of 183;").
I am inclined to think that none were usediu Westport
until two years later.
1850.
Town Meeting at the Inn of 11. J. rcrsou's.
Cephas Bradley. Supervisor.
Dau S. Cuttiuii', Clerk.
AVilliam F. Cbattertou. and I'deLard C. Gardner, Justices.
David L. Allen. Assessor.
Victor C. S})eneer. Superintendent of Schools.
Guv Stevens. C'.ii lector.
Moses Coll, Ilitrhway Commissiouer.
Artenws Ffaitwell and Orrin B. Howard. Overseers ot"
the Po<jr.
Oran£re Gibbs, Philetus D. Morriam. James \V. Eddy.
Inspectors of Election.
Guy Stevens. Horace Barnes. Hitd-:ley Coll. Aaron Peas-
ley. Thomas Dickerson, Constables.
These entries in the town bo<">k are certilied t.> liy three
Justices, John H. Low. Miles M"F. Sawyerancl Jaso^ Bra-
man.
Pathrnasters. — William Stevenson. Samuel floot. Peter
Ferris. Asa Ivinnev, Charles \V. Holcoinb. U'illiat.r. Mela-
S
HISTORY OF WE ST PORT 471
fyrt\ ]')ari'J.s Mciriam, Jatnes Mnrsliall, Cynis Itox c-o.
<ie<n-cri' ^V. Sturtovant. Doit \V. Howard, .]os(:'[)!i Iv Smith,
.\u«:ustim Hill. David R. WoodrutV, Calvin Fishor. Mont-
ravill Hill, Marcus iloisingtoa, Asa. Smith, J)ainel M. How-
ard, Aaron [N>asley. Alvin Burtt, Jobu McConley, Jr..
Luman flubhard, Jonathan IJraisted. John E. Smith,
Fi'iitiklin BiMjuett. William Pierce. Samuel Pierce, James
I'ortuno, Kdward Truosdale, l'>lwia Thompson.
Asa Kiuuey haJ just come in from J.iy. His father
\va8 J<tsi;iliKiiiuey,'i Eevolntiouinry soldier iu Coniiecli-
cut, nud Asa Kinney liad fought in the battle of Phitt-s-
hurgh, spending some time in hospital at Btirlington
wliile down with emiji fever. He was buried in West-
jiort, and his grave shonkl be reuiPinljeretl us that of
one of tlie soldiers of the war of 18P2. His son Fred-
erick and his grandson Warren still reside here.
Not until ISoH did Charles Hatch die, at tlio nge of
eighty-eight, having lived in the town for ilfty-four
years. iJorn a subject of King George he saAv two
wars with (.ireat lUiiain, and liviMl to see John IJiown,
]ierhaps, stepping oft' some boat upon Ins wharf with a
little parly of ni'groes bonnd lor the colony in
North Elba — the tirst warnings of the Civil War. No
one had done more than he — perhaps no one had done
so much — to change the little clearing at the head of
Northwest l^iy which he found here in 1802, to the
busy and prosperous village which he saw the last
}e;ir of his life. Were the old Squire's life written, ex-
actly as it ran, it would make a volume as varied and
I'omantic, with as interesting situations, as the last new
novel of the school of realism.
The .uituiun r.niis of this vear caused unusua.llv de-
\
-172 iiisToiiY at' WKSTi'oirr
•fc-trnctlvo lluoJs, especially upon the npi^LV ('('nrseof tlio
JUHjuet, in Klizuliol.lito\vii. Tiiere the tale will always
be told tliat October 1 was tlie wedding iiiglit of Mat-
thew Hale and TJlen Hand, but the day before the river
rose and carried away the l)ridge by which the groom
must cross to the wedding. By great exertions a tern-
porarj- foot Iriidge was thrown across the river, but one
so frail and unsteady that the grootn and one of the
Aveddiug guests slipjjed off in attempting to cross and
were carried down the swollen stream. Piescaed, with
njuch danger and dit^iculty, the wedding came oft" just
the sauje, and if it had hajvpened in the Scottish high-
lands, what a ballad would have been sung by sonu-
ancient bard to his harp that night!
' Some of our old people remember that in Se[)tem-
bcr of '56 the3- went to the County Fair at E"to\su and
heard Horace Greeley speak. They usually add, per-
ha{)s partly to show their o\\ n su}voi-iority, that the\
did not consid.er him a very effective orator.
1857.
Town .Meeting at \{. J. Person '.s.
David Li. Allen. Supervisor.
Charles II. Kddy, Clerk.
Jason tJraman, Justice.
Jonathan lloleomb. Collector.
Elijah Wright, llighwav Conjip^issioner.
Peter Ferris and Jesse Sanders. Overseei^ t>f the Poor.
Joseph H Smith, Freeborn H. Page and James .\L Bow-
man, ^u^.pec•tors.
Noei Merrill, Assessor.
Jonathan Hfilcomb, Oscar Ta\-lor. Joel F. Whitney. Jert>-
wiiah I'Tmn, Augustus H(»lt, Constables.
Palhaiastei's.— Ale.\under Stoveuson. Rcitol "W. .VrnoUi,
s
Jiisroi:)- OF wEsrroirr
47 :i
Noel Mr>Ti!!. Ovfiii }!. Flowarri. Xatb;ini(>l Alien. Wiluirr]
Iii<.'a!l.-, William 1^ .Mt-ifiaii). Merlin An-'i.T. Lutbt-i' Au-
■■j'wv, Geor^ft' ^V. Stuiit-vaiit, Cyrcuus li. l\iyuL'. Ciooin
Savre. Joel K. Freueli. D. It. WoodrutT. N(<iaiian Stoi-rs,
.MoMtravill Hill. I'atrirk- iJovle. Justin Pnvaty. A Ibcrt Cur-
jienlei-. Warren INioler, Y. P>. fioward. Apollos Goodsppod.
[j.'C Pfouty. Martin Pion-Oj James Fortune. Franklin Pen-
nrtt, Curtis BenDet. Marlin Pierce. James Fortune. VA-
\v;ird l'ri;e.'^;dale, Edvs in 'J'liou\p.-^on.
'i'liis vear Halpli A. Lo\ eland ivas State Senator and
John Ij. IMerriiiin. County l.'reasurer. Soon after this
Mr. Lr)velantl was conducting a large lumber l)usiness
in All)an\-, with {uirtners, under the tirm name of White,
Loveland A' Co. After some years he removed to Janes-
vilje, ^Vis., then to Cliicauo in ISt'ii), and then io Sagi-
naw, ^licbigan. wliere he tlied in IS'J'.l.
It was in tliis year tliat Dr. (iecnge T. Ste\-ens bfgan
practicing medicine at \\'adhanis Mills. In iSGl ht-
iiiarried lianiet, daughter of William L. Wadliams.
Dui'ing the Civil \Va)- he was Surgeon of the 77th regi-
nieiit, X. Y. \. lie afcerwai-d removed to ]-5rooklyn.
\vh(;re he became well-known as a specialist in diseases
I'f the eve. He h;is v/iitteu a number ol books upoii
•>cientilic subjects.
Ji>seph Cook, then c)nly a promising yi>ung man from
Ti, delivered a lecture liere upon 'Alcohol antl the Hu-
man JJrain."
Of all our stories of shipwreck, J know of but one
which oi'cni-red u]X)n the ocean. After the discovery
of gold in Calif(nni:i in 1S19, there was ;i great rusli
fiom all tl;.- i-astei-n states to tin- Pa-itii- coast, and our
"f tlie null who went fr'un Wi-stport to set-k his f^>r-
s
•174 }IiSTOi:V OF WFSTPOirr
tunes in tlie golil mines \vas Ijenjnmin Muyliew ShelJoi].
He had niaiiierl Harriet Barber, daughter of Hezekiah,
and they had four little eliihlren, Silas, Ttose, Edith and
Eimua. He went to California by water. Arrived at
the mines, he succeeded in getting quite a small fortune
for those days, about five thousand dollars, it was be-
lieved, llecoiviug a letter from his wife in which she
spoke of being ill, the desire to see his family again
overcame the desire for rielies, and he went to San
Francisco and th.ere took the same steamer upon which
lie came out, the Central ulmerira, Captain Herndou.
The shij) made the "greater ]")art of the return trip in
safety, touching at Aspinwall, rounding Cape Horn, and
arriving at Havana, which she left Septeoiber Stli, 1857.
Three days afterward a great gale came up, and the
ship sprung a leak. The pumps were kept going, the
passengers takiucf their turn with the crew, but the wa-
ter rose so rapidly that it put out the tires under the
boilers, and the ship lay at the mercy of the waves. At
two o'clock on Saturday afternoon, a l:>rig was sighted,
the Marine, an.l signaled for help. Five boat-loads of
passengers were taken from the steamer to the brig, the
women and children being taken first. Then the wave.s
rolled so high, and the tuo vessels had drifted so far
apart that the steamer was abandoned to her fate, and
was thought to have gone down at about eigiit o'clock
that evening. Captain Heiudon went down with his
sliip. In the mails there w;is over a million dollars in
specie, bes\«les large quantities of gold carried by indi-
s
nisToi^y OF WESTJ'oirr -it:,
vidual ])cissoiigX'rs. Of tlio ]0:> luf-ii who went down
\\'\i\\. tljo ship, Benjiuniu Slioklou uus one.
Another life bJicriGeed to the se:irch for California
^^>kl w;is that of Aliiahani Wadhaius. He lived to s^ee
his home a^^ain, but contracted ship-fe\-er on tlie voyage,
and died ininiediately upon his i'( turn. Others who
went, and brought l)ack more oi' less of a burden of
•svealth were Rouben In^'alls, Oii iu Hov,;ivd, Jonathan
r>raisted, and the sons of Elijah Newell. T!ie latter did
not return to Weslport, but made their homes in the
.south.
Town Meeting hokl at tlio Inn of Ik J. Persons.
David L. Allen, Supervisor.
Cbat-lps H. Eddy. Clerk.
.Tohn If. Lon-. j ustiee.
David R. Woodruff. Assessor.
Daniel M. Hon-ard, .fligbwav Conjmissioner.
I'fier Ferris and Levi H. Cros.s. Poor Masters.
Joseph P:. Smith. Ruel W. Arnold and Henry k Estey,
Inspectors of Election.
Janies M. Bowreau, Colieclor.
Henry H. Hok-omb. Cyreuus \l Payne. Willard In;ral]s.
.Tunatljan J-Iok-omb, Dan S. Cuttiuji-. Coi.stables.
Voted to allow A. M. Olds $12.1)0 f.n- an error in school
money.
Patbnia?>tPrs. --Granville Stone. K. W. Arnold. Ai-ehi-
!.)aid Patterson, Harvey Piert-e. Josiah Pierce, John Gree-
h.'V. William P. Merriain. Samuel .\nder.son. M. P. Whul-
k»"n. Geor^'-e W. Sturtevant. E.lijab Wri.u'ht. Orrin F. Hardy,
Arza Phinney, D. H. Woodimff. William Laurence, Harvey
Smith. A. M. Olds, L'--ooard Averv. Piatt. Sheldon. Abram
Gi'ecley. -Alvin Burt. Solomon Stockwell. fjumau Hubbard,
.\bram Sherman, Franklin Hosley, Franklin Bennett, J al-
ius Vaurrhau. Georj^e \'au«,dian, .Tames Fortune.
This year there was plenty of business k^r the ••}'>net'
\'''.'svtr-7. " 'ii-'c nanie uf tiii-. i>ld oHk-; had bL'tju iL-n-;
\
47G iiisnmy of WL'STJ'Onr
dropi)eJ, but its dnfu's vverf perforniod by the Hifzhwav
Commissioners. Moses Coll and Elijah Wric^'hl were
oblii'ed t<) settle a dispute about a line fence between land
of James W. Coil's and Jaa.es Pects', and then another, in
the same nei^'hborhood, about a line fence between Archi-
bald Pattison and Keuel Arnold.
It is interesting to compare tlie census of 1858 with
that taken thirty years before. Then about onc-fifth
the land was reported as improveil, now it is more than
half under cultivation. Ileal estaio has risen in value
from $86,423 to §375,537, and personal property from
$1,'/J0 to $1G,250. In Joseph Cook's history- of Ticon-
deroga, he remarks upon the fact that the real estate
of Westport increased in value more than four times in
30 years. Population has increased from 1322 to 20-11.
Then 424 children were taught in the schools during
the year, now there are 814. In one thing there is an
immense rt^duction. From 9985 yards of cloth of do-
mestic manufactiu-e iu 1829, the record falls to 285 m
1858.
This year there were 390 dwellings iu towu, 40S fain-
ilie.s, 207 free-holders and 32 school districts. 49S
horses, against 237 thirty years before, and 5,231 sheep
against 3,801. Now there were also 1022 working oxeii
and calves, 023 cows, and 506 swine. The towu pro-
<lueed 31,500 bushels of gr.iin, 3000 tons of hay, 12,999
barrels of potatoes, 6,815 barrels of apples, 45,713
pouuds of butter, and 8,377 pounds of cheese.
The New York Ga/etteer of 1860, usiug the statistics
of this year, reports as oar chief characteristics, "iron,
leather and lumber largely manufactured. Westport
s
HISTORY OF wi'.srroirr 477
ooutaius tlio Essex Couuty Arademy aud 4')() iulial>i-
iauts. U'adhams Mills has twenty-five houses."
1850- :-■ ' ■ ■■'■ ■
Town Meeting held at H. J. Person's.
David L. Aileii, Supervisor. /f ,-;
fiiram H. Duwney, Clerk.
David S. McLeod, Justice.
Hurry N. Cole, Assessor.
Israel P;Ltter.son, Highway Cwnmissiouer.
Jauies A. Alieu, Collector.
Pbiletus D. Merriam and Peter Ferris. Poor Masters.
Hinkley Coll. Orlando Sayre and Barton ]>. Pilchards,
luspeetDrs of Elections.
Jiimes A. Allen, John E. Staey. CyrenusP. Payne, Jona-
tban Polcumb, Hinklev Coll. Constables.
\'oted thiit the money in the hands of the S^ipervi.sor
should be used to purchase the Revised Statutes.
Pathtuasters. — District No. 1 for the first time since
lS-19. Orriu ih:»\vard, Alexander Stevenson, R. W. Arnold.
George Patterson. Harvey Pierce. Elijah Newell. William
l^iehards, W. P. Merruuii, Merlin Augier, Cyrus B. Royce,
<;. \V. Sturtevuut, Elijah Wright. O. F. Hardy, Sylvester
^'oiing, F. Johnson, A. F. Sherman, Harvey Smith. Pat-
rick Boyle. Harriman Daniels, f',. J. Smith. Vv'arreu Pooler.
John Ormstoa. John McCouley. Julius Ferris. Henry B.
Hoyce, John E. Smith, l-'ranklin Bennett, William Pierce.
Saiuuel I'it-rce. James Fortune.
In the hiirhway districts we find mentioned ■"along the
])lank ruad to the wharf of Hatch and Allen, iheuce np the
hill to the corner of F. H. Page's store. "
This year came in a quaint and uimsual iuclustry,
that of making clay pipes hy hand. At-tlie month of
the Fiaymoud brook, ou Be.ssboro, near the island of
Father J(^gues, stands an old house, on the site, it is
lielieved, of one of the dwellings of the ancient settle-
ment of Raymond's Mills. Here, in one eml of the
house, "VN'us the shoj\ communicating at tht' bad: with
V
47S iiisToiiy OF WFsrroirr
a liriek kiln, built for bniiiiiii:; the pipes to suowy wLito-
ness after thej were moulded. The soft black vlay,
hrought from Nev,' Jersey, was ground to tlie pro[)er
iiueuess in a vat outside, where a patient horse ploddeil
round and round at the end of a long sweep. An Eng-
lishman named James A. Smith, (always dislinguisheci
amouj:; us by the title of "Pipemaker Smith,") with his
sons Gabriel aisd Peter, made the pipes, using many a
mould of curious shape, brought from England, with tht-
English rose and thistle printed on the side of the bowl.
Whatever fantastic shapes were given the pipes, there
was always the little knob at the bottom of the bowl,
thoughtfully provided that the smoker might rest his
pipe upon it for a moment while he to(^k a drink of
beer, or joined in the jolly songs of an English inn.
This business was carried on l)y the sous of James A.
Smith for some j-ears after the death of the latter, but
some time in the eighties the f;tctory-made pipes drove
out the more expensive handicraft, and it w;as given u}^
It was to this house that, twenty years later, in 1870,
came a fearful visitation of maliguant diphtheria, iu
which live or six of the family dieil within a few weeks"
time. The house was quarantined, ami such was th.'
fear of contagion that it was impossible to obtain a
nurse to perform thr; necessary work. Then a young
n)inister and his wife, not long married, ami just settled
in West port, went to the afflicted house and stayed un-
till the disease had run its course, caring for the dying
and the dead. Such precautions were taken that no
other caspsof diphth'U'ia occurred, and the brave volun-
s
jfjSTOh'y or WEsrroirr ^n^
tcor muses esc;q»cnl without liarin. It Wiistl\is act that
so stirred Colo)iel Lee's enthusiasm, always ready to re-
spond to the note of coui'age and self-sacrifu'e. '"'J'hat
is what I call lieroisni," said lie, as hcgrasi)ed tlieyouu^
minister by the hand.
This year 1859, must have Imried the last of our pi-
oneers, Dr. Diadorus Ho]cc»mb, aj^ed sevent}-nine, who
had scon so nuieh, aiid dnne so much, in the life of the
little town since he first cast in his fortunes with it.
Dying in September, lie never heard the news of the
capture and execution, in Virginia, of John Brown, a
rnr.u whom he must have often seen upon our streets, or
at the couTity fair.
The connection of John Brcnvn with Westport his-
tory is^ but incidental, only that of a ])l;ice through
which he and his family often passed, in the strange
variety of their strange lives. Nevertheless, the man
was well known here, fromtlie time that he came ofl"
the ferry boat, one day in tl;c summer f)f bS-l:'.:>, driving
a herd of Devon cattle, of a breed finer than any thing
wseen in Essex county up to that time. It was known
that he was taking them over thirty miles into the in-
ttnior, where he had settled on some of Gerrit Smith's
laud in North Elba, surrounded by a little colony of
freed negroes whou! he was trying to teach the grim
secret of wresting a livelihood from that granite soil.
Almost universal sympathy with tliis attempt seems to
Jiave been felt at this time, together with shrewd Yan-
kee head-simkiugs over the [n'obable, (and actual,) fail-
iin: of the tLitcrpii.>e. TJjt write)- has faiitu to jjnd
\
4S0 insrony of \vi:srrnirr
.traces of iiuytliiu^ conespoucliiig to a "station ou tlio
iijidorgrouiul rnihoail" in Wobt])ort, for foiwardinj:^ es-
capee! slaves ti-> Canada, and is inclined to hclieve tlint
this is rather bix-ausc socrocy Avas littlo! nettled. Any
negro nii^^lit be ojie of the ]S^(n'th J-^lba freednion, an<l
his passage through the town uiight bo safely winked
at so long as there was no question of a United States
marshal on th(^ road witli a warrant--an extremity
which never occniTcd. Tliis refers entirely to the first
live years of John ];*>r<jwn'ri residence in Essex county^
before his depnrture for Ivaijsas, during which time
most if not all of the freed negroes accepted land in
North Elba. During these tive years anti-slavery sen-
tinient ran high in We.-^tport, as it did in all the North,
and anti-sluvery meetings, with the usual speeches and
aesolutious, were often held. After the Ivansas troubles
there was a change, the North beginning to hold her
breath before the risiiig tlatne of sectional fetding so
easily fanned into a niighty contlagration. Ir-
responsible speech began to be restrained. VVise and
good men, who v.onld have giver, their lives to prevent
the civil wjir wliich foUtnved, whi> often gave them after-
ward to help to bring it to a close, strove to modify
popular passion by counselling ujoderation. Itemem-
bt.^ing this will helj) us to undeistand the significanct^
of events, and to realize that although anti-slavery
meetings were not so frerpient in the four or five years
directly preceding the war, it was from no lack of con-
viction or courage ou the part of our people.
Eut for the years from bS4'.) to lSo5, there is no
s
iijsroin' OF WKST/*n/rr -/si
doubt-that Ji>liu l»rc)\vn was a popular man in West-
port, aiul one willinolj listened to a:; ol'leu as lie eanie.
He uever made public speeclies, bat when it was known
that he was at the inn, to sta}- a sini^le night <ni his
wav in or out of thi? monutaius the ujen would j^ather
in the bar room and dis'-nss politics aiid slavery with
liim. Men who have thus conversed with him say that
he was iu)ticcably quiet iu his manner, never showing
the least trace of excilemfut, and far nnn-e patient v/itii
contradiction than tin} average ])articipant in political
discussion. He talked in a low, steady voice, and his
expression was pleasing and winning. It is told that
a frequent opponent of his was the landlord of the inn,
whose views were not at all those of John Brown, but
tiiat he always gave in at last without anger to the quiet
persistence of Brown's arguments.
At this time John Brown was a nnm something [)ast
fifty, tall, erect, with a smooth shaven face and a stern
mouth, not at all like the wild eyed fanatic, with
long gray beard ani.1 luishy hair, who is seen in so many
of his pictures. No doubt these reiutsent him at a
hiter stage, after the sceiies of liloodshed iu Kansas;
but the John ]3rown remembered iu Westport, who
talked so courteously and so freely with the village
men, was like tiie pcjrtrait re})ioduced by Katharine
Elizabeth MeClellan in her (.-xcellent little book, "A
Hero's Grave." After his return f)'om Kansas in ISob
I cannot find trace of so many evenings of argument at
the village inn. rerha[Ks be was tired of talking since
lie had come to Ijelieve more iu the fV>rce of pikes and
\
■J^-J HISTORY OF WFS'ITOirr
gUDS, perhaps the meu Mere sh}- of h.ira, or perhaps T
liave not yet struck the right veiu of reminiscence.
Most of the men who kucw him here are dead, but Mr.
James A. Allen owned and managed the steamboat
wharf from 1851 until aftor the war, and thus sav,-, with
keen, observant eyes, all the comings and goings of the
travellers of that time. He remembers Johu Brown
with much pe)sou!d admindion, a^ a pleasant man to
meet, and one who knew a great deal about shee]) and
cattle. He remembers perfectly the time wheji tlie
tombstone of John Brown's grandfather came to the
wharf, and lay for a time in the freight room, before it
was carried to North Elba. It came from Vergennes,
hy the steam ferry, a boat upon whose sides was
painted the name "Xcniparcil,'' but which commonly
went by the name of ^'the Dodger."
The story. of this tombstone is a strange one, and
contains much revelation of the character of John
Brown. It is a thin marble slab, Avhich stood at tlie
head of his grandfather's grave in Torrington, Conn.,
the place where Johu Brown himself was born,
and where all his people lay buried. When it first
came into West port it bore but one inscription, — "In
Memory of Capt. John Brown "Who Died At New York
Sept. ye 3, 177G, in the 48 year of his Age." This
grandfather, whose name and title were the same as
John Brown's of North Elba, had died as a soldier of
the Bevolutiou, a prisoner in the hands of tlie British.
His grandson had always felt t!ie greatest admiration
uud reverence for hini, feeling tl^at hu hud died in thu
s
JJlSrOllY OF WE ST PORT 483
cause of liberty, ami lio had conceived the idea of huv-
iiif^ his torflbstone staud at the head of his own grave,
which he had decided should be made on his farm.
It must have been in the summer of 1S57 that the
stone was brouglit from Couuecticut, aud thoup;h I am
not quite sure of this, I think tliat Jolm Brown himst-lf
took it to Wadhams Mills and there had the name of
his son Frederick, "murdered at Osawatamie for his ad-
herence to the cause of freedom," as lie dictated to the
marble-cutter, cut uu the reverse side, then carried it
to North Elba. There he did not sot it in thegrounvl —
why should he, since no grave had yet been dug? — but
put it on the })orch at the side of the door, leaning up
against the house, and there it stood for two years, the
family going in and out beside it all that time. Marked
already with the name of a son and brother who had
<lied a violent death, standing avowedly v.-aitiog for the
name of the father to be cut upon it, — there are people
who would not like to brush past such a stone every
tin^e they vveut in and out of the door, twenty times a
day, but the Brown family did not culiivate nerves.
John Brown indicated tire spot wheie his grave should
be dug by cutting with his own hands, before he left
the last time for tJje south, in the side of the great
boulder near which lie had built his house, the letters
"J. B." Think of his wife aud daughters looking out
of the win<low at him as he knelt there on the grouiid,
chipping away at the side of the filuty rock with his
unskilled -hands, marking the place wliere they should
burv him when all was over !
4S4 HISTORY OF WFSTFORT
It was the IGth of October, ISaO, wLeu Jobn Brown
began hi.s attempt at the forcible liberation of the
shaves of tlie south by the seizure of tlie United States
Arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Va. He was captured,
taken to Charlestown, and there hung, December 2. In
the mean time, Thomas Wentworth Hig<^iuson, who
had seen John Brown in Boston and become his earn-
est friend, came up to North Elba and took Mrs. Brown
to Virginia with him, that she might see her husband
before he died. Tliey went from North Elba to Keese-
ville on a buckboard, taking the steamboat at Port
Kent. After Brown's execution Governor Wise deliv-
ered the body to Mrs. Brov.n, and she came with it to
New York, up the Hudson, then on the Yerinont rail-
road to Yergeunes. So late in the season as this no
line boats ran on Lake Champlain. They obtained
teams in Yergennes to carry them to the lake at Adams'
ferry, and there they crossed over to Barber's Point,
coming into the village late on Monday, December 5th.
They went to Person's Hotel, the central inn of the
place, and stayed there over night. I have recently
heard foolish tales to the effect that John Brown's body
was not allowed a resting place in \Yestport for even
one night, but men living at the time, who were in the
hotel parlor and bar-rootn that evening, assure me that
these are the facts in the case. Tiie body was received
with all the respect and reverence due to a man well-
known among them, who had given his life for a cause
the righteousness of which they had often heard up-
held by his own voioc
HISTORY OF WESTPOirr 485
The party consisted of tlie widow, ]\[i-s. Mary A.
Brown, Mr. "Wendell Phillips, the famous Boston ora-
tor, Frank B. Sanborn, the historian and some
others. The next day it niiued, a steady, icy down-
pour, and the party did not set out until late in the
day, arriving in Elizabethtowu at about six o'clock
Tuesday evening. Westport conveyances carried the
whole party all the way, I believe, to North Elba, one
of the men who went with his horses being Albert P.
Cole, and another, I am told, Mr. Asa Yiall. From
Wadhnms, Mr. Daniel Bramau, then one of the princi-
])al merchants, and the young physician, Dr. George T.
Stevens, went out through the storm to stand by the
grave the next day. I have heard that the hearse which
was owned by the town, (after an old New England
custom, then almost obsolete,) was refused to Mrs.
Brown for carrying her husband's body to North Elba,
but it is extremely doubtful that Mrs. Brown ever made
such a request, and if it was refused it was no evidence
of disrespect, as the hearse was old and oat of repair,
seldom or never used, and not considered a fit convey-
ance for any respectable funeral. It is true that the
bells of the churches were not tolled as the funeral
train passed through, bat neither can I find that they
were tolled in Elizabethtowu, where a deputation of the
principal citizens met Mr. Phillips at the Mansion
House, while a guard of four young men watched be-
side the body in the Court House that night.
The sto'rm in wdiich the cortege went from Westport
tvj ICIizabetlitowu dolnyed upon the lake the Piev. Joshua
4S0 ]!tSr()Ry OF WHSTl'ORT
Youijg of Burlii)gton, so that he ditl not reiich the Johh
Ijiown fax in uutil December 8, the morning of the burial.
He was the only clergyman present, and conducted the
siervice, while Wendell Phillips spoke to the assembled
people. Upon Mr. Phillips' return to Westport, he
was urged by some of the principal citizens to deliver
an address here, but he answered that he had promised
to speak in Yergennes, and felt that he could spend no
more time. He spoke there the next night, and a large
number from Westport went over to hear liim, crossing
at Barber's Point in a south-cast gale, the v,-iud blow-
ing the boat far out of her course to the north, so that
they were obliged to land somewhere in the fields. The
names of Dr. William H. Ivichardson, Puilph A. Love-
laud, x\lbert and Harry Cole, James A.. Allen, Asa Yiall
and F. II. Page have been given me as belonging to
this party, but there were others v/hose names have
been forgotten. They stayed over night in Yergennes,
ft'nd the speech of Wendell Phillips, as v/ell as the re-
cent terrible event.>, had tremendous force in mould-
ing public opinion in this region. On the day of John
Brown's execution in Yirginia, Yictor Hugo was writ-
ing in France, "Politically speaking, the execution of
Brown will be ai] irrevocable mistake. It will deal the
union a concealed wound which will finally suntler the
States. Let America consider that there is one thing
mi)re shocking than Caiu killing Abel— it is Washing-
ton killing S{)artacus." •
Those things Westport peo^ile thoroup;hly believed,
nud. excitement rati higher ;i.iid lii^Iji-r. Abr-ut a nKmth.
HISTORY OF WESTPORT 4S7
iifter ' Jolm Brown's body passed through the
town, a large mass meeting was held at Wadhams Mills
for the expression of abolition sentiment. Mrs. Brown
carae out fi'om North Elba, having been invited to at-
tend a snp]'er given at the hotel for her benefit, and
was entertained at the home of Mr, Cyrenus Payne. At
this time she went to the marble cutter there, Mr. Ben-
jamin Albert Barrett, and engaged him to go to North
p]lba and cut her husband's name on the old tombstone
which had stood there waiting for it for two years and
more. Mr. Barrett went, and the stone was taken from
the porch into the waim kitchen of the farm-house,
where he cut the name of John Brown under that of his
grandfather, and below that the name of his son Oliver,
while tlie name of Watson Brown v/as cut under that
of Frederick on the other side. Watson and Oliver
had been killed at Harper's Ferry. Thus John Brown's
own plans for his epitaph ia stone were carried out.
while his sonl went marching on. The marble slab was
set in the ground as soon as the frost was out in the
spring, and tliere it stands yet, visited by tiiousands.
The inscription,— "John Brown, 1850," — so deeply
cut on the upper face of the immense granite boulder
at the foot of which John Brown lies buried, was cut
there after the war, in the summer of 1S66. Col. Fran-
cis L. Lee, who had served in the war as colonel of the
41ith Massachusetts Volunteers, accompanied by his
wife, his sou, Francis W. Lee, his daughter Alice, the
Hon. George S. Hale of Boston, and Mr. Andrew J.
Daniels of Wcstport, went out and stayed a week at
'4SS niSTORy i:>r WKSTPoirr
"Soott's," (now tlie 3i(rautain Yi'.^w Housi-,) wliilo Mi.
Daniels cut tlio letters uiul fi<.;m-es deep into the roclc
"The work to<-)k inan}^ days," says Mr. Francis W. Lee,
in a letter published in the Essex County liepubli-
can in March of 1S7G, "owinp; to the extreme
hardness of the rock iu which the letteis were cut.
This sanie hardness will ])rt,)iect the mighty boulder
from the hand of the vaud.d relic seeker for all time."'
It was the frailty of the ancient tablet, the edges of
which were worn away before it was brought to West-
port, which suggested this idea to Col, Leo.
In 1859 the Essex County Medical Society was re-
organized. This society is known to have been estab-
lished before LSl-l, since in that year Dr. Alexander
Morse of Elizabethtown was sent as a delegate to the
State Medical Society. In 1 S21 Dr. Diadorus Holcomb
of WestpiU't re]n-esented the county society. Westport
]>hysicians who have been ]iruside!\ts since 1859 art
A-biathai I\)llard, ISikS; Conani Sawyer, 1870; Dr. Pol-
lard again in 1SS2 ; and Pliny W. luirber iu 188-1.
Other members froui Westport have beeu Dr. Samuel
F. Dickenson, 3881 ; Dr. Warren E. Pattisou. 1881 ; Dr.
Frank E. Sweatt, 1882 ; ami doubtless the subsequent
doctors who have sojourned among us- Dr. F. T. De-
Lano, Dr. Jusse Braman, Dr. J. W. 31. Shattuek, Dr.
Ileuben Irish and Dr. Hennessey, — tjiough we have not
liud access to the records of the society to substantiate
this very probable statement:
/
.■ insTonv OF \v/:sTro/rr -tsn
1K(K)
Towu Mrotiuj/ a: il. J. Person's. ' '' ■ • :»
Saiuui^l Root, Supervisoi-. ■^' ' ,
Hiram U. Downey. Cii-rk. : , ,
William V. Cliattevton. Justice.
Noel Merrill. Assessor.
.losepb E. Smith. tJi^^diwav Coii^inissiouef.
Albert P. Cole aud Pbiletus D. .M Triam. P.nr Masters.
Dau S. Cattia*:, Fferoert L. Ca.iy. I'Mwwi P. Piers'm, lu-
-^[teetot^s of Electiou..
James A. AHon, Collector.
James A. A^Ileu. Cvreuus R. Payiu". Jeremiali I'Miim. Al-
!)ert P. Cole, George C. Sinitli. Constables.
Pathmaster.s.— Alfred Carpenter, Moses Coil. Israel Pat-
risou, Peter Ferris, A'-i.i,'u.'^tus H )lt, Jei'eiinah Flitiii. Asa
\'iall, WiiUam P. Mernatn. William fJarris. Luther Angler,
(ieor^e W. .Sturtevaat. Daniel W. Bram m. Ja-^on Datister,
Sw-lvester Yl^uL!l,^ Artanas Hartwell. Abrana G. Steel. Bar-
vey Smith. Barney 15. )yle. Curtis Proutv. Ha»-\'ey Howard,
.lo'hu G. Greeley. I'. H. tloward, Solomon Stockwell. Lu-
aiau Hubbard. Morrill Giobs. John E. Smith. Franklin
llennetl. William I'ierce, Samuel Pierce. Horace poyce.
It was in the. fall of ISOO that twu little i)oys, about
nine uud ttrii years oul, took a sled ami went ooastiuji;
down '-the lake hill ' above the steamboat w hart. This
is very stoep, and the d-ingor of slitliu^ ot>' into the wa-
ter has always nxade it a foi-bidilen pdace to
the children of careful jiareuts. There was enoui^di
snow for p;ood coastinfj, but the lalie hail not vet frozen
over. The two children could not steer their sled, and
at the foot of the hill it etirried them ott' into the water,
where both were drowned. One l>o\- was named Fran-
kie Cole, and the other bel'>u<^ed to ;i family named
Turner. They were not missed for some time, l/Ut at
J.ast seaich reveal. -d the treacln rons sled floating on
,b'i) of the w;>ier. .-.nd meji draL:;_;!-d ri'e u;der thai night
./' ■
490 If I STORY OF WF ST PORT
until tlie little botlips wore reeovirei]. This incident
has given the lake hill an oniiiujus terror to all West-
l>ort children since then as a sliding place.
For some years the school facilities of tiie village
had been seen to be quite inadequate to the rightful de-
mands of the rising generation. The old Academy had
long fallen short of the renown of its early davs, and
most of the pilmary work was done in the district
schools of the village, district Xo. 3 lyiug on the south
side of the bridge and district No. 2 on the north side.
In ISGO these two districts were united, and a union
school meeting was held Decembej- 7th, in the base-
ment of the M. E. church, with John H. Low us mode-
rator and Aaron L. Mack, Clerk. Three trustees were
elected, William Frisbie for one year, Lorenzo
Gibbs for two years and D. li. Allen for three years,
and Jerry- Flinn as ch^rk. Tht) two school liouscs
weie sold, and b'.tli ha.ve bcf.'u used as dwelling houses
e\er since. The stoves and benches were reserved, and
the benches at least must have had some value by this
time as registers of tl)e autogra[)hs of the various boys
wlio had tried the edge of their jack knives upon them.
The school houses were expected to bring .?.500, and the
Ilaruiibas Myrick house on North street, which had
been in the hands of Marks iV Hand of Elizabethtown
since the .settlement of the Myrick estate, was bought
for a new school house, for the sum oi .•?1,200. A board
of education was elected, consisting of Harry N. Cole,
Aaron B. Mack, James Walker Eddy, Victor C. Spen-
cer, the two clrgymen, the Ilev. IsjacC. Feuton of the
./'
iiisroin' r)F ]vi:sTJ'()RT ■ 4m.
M. E. clmioli aiul the Ki-v. l'\ V. Ijmvj^ of tlie r.;i['tist,
.tiid the two doctors, Dr. Laiuluu niul Dr. AVilliain H.
jlichanlsou. The ^lyriek house w.ih; rGinoduled, fitted
u|> for four de}uirtiiieiits, and used until the liuihliuf;; of
the new school house in 1S8*J. The first ])riiici[)al of
the new union school was ]juther Doardinau Nt'WL'll/''
He was bcn-u in Jay, N. Y., in IHoi, attended school
in KeeseviUe and f^rudnuted from the University of
Vermont in 18C0. Corning to Westport the same year,
he spent the renjainder of hjs life in the place, with the
exception of a fuw years' teachiuL;- in Crown Point. He
was principal of the school about ten yeais. From
•This Newel! family is not tlie same as th:it of Ehenezer Newell, although there
is no doubt a d:sUii: relationship. Cjptnin D.niel Ntwell w.is born in {*ar:nin^-
town. Conn,, in 17^5 He tuovci to Tiiiinouth, V't., where he betame a captain of
iriillery, and then tu Burke, \'t., in iSoo. In Burke he was one of the most prom-
inent men, selectman and justice of the peice. The description of Capt Daniel
.\e-.\ ell in tlie ton-n history <;f Burke rsidi- as thou^^h It might have been written
for his great grandson, L. i5. Newell, as it represents him as tall ino etcct in his
carriaj^e, sociable and henevoieut in his disposition, and an ardent Hap list, addintj
t. -It no nan was more respected and I'sloved in ;iis one lOAn. His wjte was a
Curtis, of the same family as ttiatof ^ errge William Curli>, and tiiis must account
X>r the fact that L. B. Newell bore a likeness to the pictures of George William
•Curtis, slro.ig enoug-h Is have soineti:ne-> been rcmarkt-ii by strangers. Capt. Dan-
iel .\ewell died in lin in Burke He had ten children, one of whom, Rufus.
vi hose wife was a Beckwith, came into the to.vn 0/ Jay with his son Daniel a <oat
iSjo. There Daniel the second married Marc Klish, and they haJ seven children.
.Martha married Capt. John Stratton Boynton. Children: Electa, Jg.'in, Liacoln,
M...ry, .Vcwell and I?eulah.
I.utner Bo4rdman married iarjh Punnori,
Keuiah married BenjiminS. Bull.
^^alc married Hattie Buttrick.
Electa died at tl'.c afefe of .hree.
Kosalii mirned Henry Chase an I live> in Minneaooli s.
Arthur Daniel nurried Lottie Van Ornati:. .la.l his nud.: his home in We.stpott,
hiving been a te'icher for some vears Hi> children are Isaac Hjrri.-,or., -Maiy,
'•race and D.iniel, The two sons .<re the only Jc-ccrd int-j of Kifus Ne^'fH who
■ car ihc same S'.ir'iai-;e.
./'
402 HISTORY OF WEST I'D RT
187G to 18S2 he was School Commi^siouc-r for tin's dis-
trict, aud was afterward lustitate Instrnctor. He was
for several years agent of the Ticonderoga Pulj) aud
Paper Compauy, buying large quautities of pulp wood
all through northern New York aud Canada. He was
supervisor of the town at the time of his death, ^vhich
occurred Jan. 23d, 1S9G. Westport has never had a
more public-spirited citize]i, aud liis natural benevo-
lence is shown by the fact tJiat, having no children of
liis own, he adopted three orphan girls, giving them all
liberal educations.
In this old "Myrick house" school one whole gene-
ration received its educiition. Before Mr. Newell re-
turned fioni Crown Point, one very successful teacher
was Mr. Hyde, of Maine. In 1874 came Curtis Carlos
Gove, just graduated from Middlebury College, aud
conducted an excellent school until 1879, when he went
to Peeraan Academy, New Haveu, Yt., whither a num-
ber of hir. older pupils followed him. He afterward
took orders in the Protest;int Episcopal Church, being
ordained in 1891, and is now Eector of St. Michael's
Church aud Head Master of Cary Collegiate Institute,
Oaklleld, N. Y.
Then came Edward Hooker IJaxter, .^f Middlebury
College, class of 1S7G, and taught oue year. He is now
a physician in Hydt) Park, Ma^is. He was followed by
Thomas A. Wasson of Mineville, now a physician in
Elizabethtowu. Then Edn)uud Conde Lane, Univers-
ity of Yermont, class of ISS'i, one year. He afterward
l)racticevl law in South Omaha, Nt;!j., aud died ther'^-
./^ *
iiisTony OF wEsrroirr 4!)3
\u 1808. Then Charles F. Chlsholm of I'l-ittsbur-li, a
f,a-afla;ite of Conipll, and Julius Valorious Sturtevanl,
Middlebury, iS.So, \vlu>se year was Hnishetl by ^liss
]Mary Fai-tisworth. Then ^Ir. John i^yon, who is now
jiractieiug law near Eockville Ctuitrt-, li. I., and in 188t»
Mr. Fred Yarney Lester, a graduate of Colgate Uni-
versity. The new school house was built while he was
l)rineipal, and th" school raised to v hii^'h standard of
eflicieucy. In 1895 lie was elected Sch(jol Coinuiis-
sioner, receivinp; a second election three years after-
ward. In 1899 he resii^ned his commissionersliip to
accept the position of Principal of the Ticonderoga
schools, and removed from Westport after a residence
<^f tl)irteen years. Succeeding ]uinciiials have been
Mr. Kennedy, two years, ^Ir. George \\'. Campbell, of
Toronto, one year, and Mr. Edgar \\'illey Ames, of Wil-
liams College, tiie present Principal.
The first teaciier in the intermediate department (.f
the '"Mwick" school was Mrs. L. B, Newell, wlio taught
there for a number of years. Otlnn- tcac-hers in the
lower departments were A.huira Greele}-, Cornelia Clark,
Myra Small, Sarah Richards, Clara Ensign, Alice Doug-
lass, M;UTFarnsworth,Emma Shar[t, Annie Sharp, Kate
Xewell, Minnie Newell, Ida Bacon, Lina Barton, Lyle
Cross, John Hoftnagle, Kate llogersand Mary E. Clark.
The new school house was built in 1SS9, as the fig-
ures on its slate roof attest, on a tin(>site near the shore
of the lake. The architect was Cornelius Bemington of
Ticonderoga, and it has since received two additions,
.-.'ud the accoinm'->datious are still dechir.' 1 to be insuf-
4!>4 IlIsrOUY OF WlCSTl'oRT
iieeiit for tlic yearly iucreasing number of piij^ils. lu
the new school honso, the assistants iji the Ac;idenuc
ilepartmeut have been Miss Henrietta C. Koyee, Mis<
Ella Feehau and Miss Daisy Brallee. Teachers of the
Training Class, Miss Mar}' Iv. Harrington and Mj.<<
Kubsou. In the inleruiediate Jei)ariment, Miss Electa
Boyuton, Mrs. Frances ]lainsey and Miss Gertrude
Stevens; in the primary, Miss Marian Ferris, Miss
Elda Fish, Miss Susie Bruffee and ^liss Florence Shel-
don. The faculty now consists of Mr. Ames, Miss
Bruffee, Miss Bobson, Miss Stevens, Miss Torrance,
Miss Sheldon. We are wont to claim that there- i.~
no better school in the county than the West}>ort High
School.
This brings the account of tlie the school up to tlie
present year, and we must now go back to 1860, and
take a look at the town as it was before the war.
"Frankness demands the admission that it was then as
dull a little place as could be found on all the lake, if
measured by the standards of a bus}- and money-mak-
ing world. The decline in lumber had come many
years before, and now it had Just b^eeii made })laiu th;it
no one knew the s<^cret of turning our iron into gold.
The population of the town in 1SC)0 was but 1,0S1.
which showed a decrease of o71 in the last decade.
Tliis decrease also continued steadily for another ten
years, until in 1870 the town numbered 7To less than ir
did, in 1850.
The business centre of the jdacc was then, as it i<
n«iw, on Main Stri.tt, ju->t north oi' ^V;<..s}iiugton, in ih<^-
iiisTn/n' OF wKsrroirr •/.'>."
.s:U!io locality wlir ic Clmrlfs Hatcli Imcl opoiK-J tlie first
store fifty ^•eal■s hefttre. Here, on the east ^;i(li' of the
street, stoo;] two liiisiness bIcK-ks, with ;i iiuinbrM of <\h-
taohe'l l)uihliij>_';s on liotli side of the street. 0[>|)Osite
the stores, on the eoriifr of the present Library hiwn,
stood Person's Hotel, advertised as "the Lake Hoi;sc,"
a lar':;e two-story btiijdiiif;, paijited white, with doulile
pia/-/,,is aud a lon^j,- rani;-e of ofTiees and stables hchind
it. A st'jne walk led across th»^ road to the hotel, und
at its eastern end stood the town })uin[). The well be-
neath it was coverod by ;•, mill stone taken fron) one of
the old _fn-ist mills, and the stoue lies there yet, although
the town ])nm]) has Vieeu unknown for forty years.
South of the hotel stood another block of stores, on the
site of the 'X)ver tlie W;iy" (^f the Westpoit Inn. Here
was Hiram ])ov.-nrY's tin shop, ;uid, (]ierhap-: a little
later,) the drug store kept by Dr. William H Richard-
son, hfs advertisement in the cou!)ty pianer covering
.-'.Iso a large stock of furniture, v.ith ]Kirtieula.r attention
railed to Magenta 1 >yes and Kerosene Lamps, botli re-
rent inventions at the time, and a postscript, added
in bStio, saying that the doctor would examine applicants
for invalid [lensions. In the blocks across tlic roadl'.H.
I'ag". in the brick store on the corner, ke{)t a stock of gen-
er.al merchandise, hi> j>rincipal rivals being the tirm of
J. \V. tV 0. H. Eddy, a little further to the north. Mr.
Pag(; and C. H. Eddy were afterward partners in busi-
ness, and later still ^Ir. Page became a member of the
tirm of Groves, Paire cV Co., Troy, N. Y. The eorner
store was afterward, owned bv C H. E Idv A S.-;;, then
i
496 HI STORY OF WKSTFORT
l)y F. H. E.ia.v alone, aiul after tlie <leatli of Mi\ F. H.
Eddy iu 1901, tlio b-isiuess which had beeu continaoa<
iu the Edd}' family for more than forty years, was sold
to Smith c^' Eiclia)dri, ]Mr. George Barton llichard^
being brother-in-law of Mr, Eddy.
Other business })laces in this p;irt of the village in
18G0 were the drnj:; store of Charles B. Hatch, John C.
Osborne's harness shop, Peter P. Bacon's shoe shop,
Alviu Davis's hardware store, and William Bichards,
general merchandise, in the bnilding now occupied by
liis son, Flenry H. Pilchards. Up the hill, on the south
side of AVashinglou street, Edmund J. Smith liad a
carriage and blacksmith shop. AVilliam Douglass had
a blacksmith shop on the site of the barns of the ^Yest-
port Inn, and Wallace Olds another on Douglass street,
on the north side of the bridge. G. W. Strauahau kept
a tailor's shop, and there v.-as a milliner in the Hat ovei-
Hatch's drug stor.^ :\[rs. H. P. Potter, followed by :Mrs.
Harriett Todd, a.s we lind by an advertisement of 1SG2.
Aaron Clark was a carpeute)' and builder at this time,
and had a shop near the large tenement house above
the steamboat wharf, while the Joubert brothers had a
marble shop on tlie bank of the brook west of th>>
bridge. The principal busiti'^ss north of the bridge was
done by D. L. Allen at the Doughi.-s store and wharf,
while his br*jther, James A. Allen, owned the southern
wharf. The line boats wliich came iu daily to the last
named wharf were the dtiwdn and the Unikd Staf''^.
The post n>aster at this time, and f<n- a long t<M-m of
veais, was -Kdm H. l^o\\\ .lud the \n)>.t oflue wa.-> to 1"
i
HISTORY OF WFSTJ'ORT 407
fouihl exactly where you now find it. TJiere were two
hotels. William llichards keeping the Ricllarll'^ House on
the north side of the bridge, on the "Ira Henderson
lot," on North street. The house was burned in 1893,
and tlie place is now nearly covered by a block of new
stores. The physicians were Dr. William H. Ilichard-
sou and ])r. Abiathar Pollard, the latter returning to the
place in ISGl.
1 believe the only milling industry at Wadhams at
that time was the grist mill, operated by Deacon Wad-
hams. The store afterward occupied by Henry C.
Avery was kept by ])aniel W. Braraan, and at some
time not tar from this period the brick store was known
as the "Union Store," froni the fact that fifty or sixty
of the farmers of the neighborhood attempted a co-op-
erative stove in this building. The experiment was
tried for a number of years, but at length the business
i)ecame involved, and it {massed into the hands of Ham-
ilton Sanders.
Up to this time the old-f.ashioned Yankee peddler
was a valuable institution throughout all this rural lake
country. Even a pack peddler often carried fine dress
goods in his pack, and was, mcn-e often than not, a re-
spectable, native born citizen, willing to earn his honest
])enny by adapting himself to circumstances, and carry-
ing the mountain to Mahomet by seeking out his cus-
tomers at their own door.s. ^Nlany of usca)i remember
treasured pieces of our grandmothers' tiuery whicli we
were told hiid been bought from such-and-such a ped-
rlh.'r, who madt) his regular trijiS, perhaps up and down
498 II J S TORY OF H T .V 7 7 » () /: T
both sides of tlio lalcc, recognized au 1 trustc-d like aiiy
settled nierohaut. This is all changed now, and a pack
peddler moans iiothinLi, but a senii-tranip ^vho speaks
broken Italian, and excites any conscientious and ob-
serving dog to frenzy until he is sent off down the road.
But forty years ago raany a bright young fellow begau
as a pack peddler, then by iuriusti-y and economy rose
to the ownerslii]) of a cart and team of horses, and then
invested iiis savings in some dry-goods stoie which Ije
had observed upon his travels as furnishing a good
opening for an enterprising 3'oung man, perhaps send-
ing out peddlers' carts over the country in his turn.
One of the dangers of the old-time peddler was that of
being murdered for the contents of hi;-. ])ack, in somo
remote district where night overtook him before he
could reach a respectable inn or farm-house, and there
are tales of such incidt;nts told by oni- oldest stoi-y-
tellers.
I'hen business reckonings vrere made in shillings
much more cunmonly than they are now, and "sis-
pence" and "nine-pence" were terms often heard. The
ditlerence between the York shilling and the Vermont
shillings still needed careful mention M'ith the older mer-
chants,and was the occasion of frecpr-nt jokes, to the be-
wilderment of youngsters in school who were learning
only the decimal system.
As for the churches, it would .seeui that at this period
they were quite as prosperous as they can be said to be
now, 'with attendance and membershi]), as a whole,
rather in advance of present conditions.
HI STORY OF WE ST PORT 4ri;i
From ISll to 1S(V2 the Coii^regatioiml ohurch at
Wailluuns liad four pastors, llev. Charles E. Kpooner
remaiued thirteen years, from 18-11 to ISol-. He was
followed V)y llev. J. A. Woodhull, who resigned iti ]S.")S,
and was followeil by Rev. S. J. M. Lord, and lie. in
18G0, by Piev. Henry Lancashire. The ehnreh num-
bered in 1857 one hundred and three members, but soon
nfteiward began a declension in membership, owing to
unfortunate dissensions which arose in the church,
chiefly attributable, it would seem, to the injudieious
measures of an unwise pastor. Many left the church
entirely, some joining other denominations, most of
them never to return. A list of male members attend-
ing a churcli meeting in 18H0 is given as follows :
Edmund O. Hodgldns, Henry Bartou Eoyee, Francis
Pierce, Samuel W. Pierce, Samuel Pierce, Levi I'lcrce,
H. N. Eeyuolds,. William S. Flack, Oscar M. Poutuell,
Aaron B. Mack, George T. Stevens, Jesse Sanrulers,
Joel F. Whitney, 'lvn\, Almond Clark, Egbert Praman,
N. M. Clark, W. F. Chatterton, William Hardy, P. F.
AVhitney, John P. Whitney, Sylvester Young. \\'iiliain
Barnard, Joel French, John S. Stanton, AVilliam L.
Wadhams, Thomas Hadley, Piatt Shuhlon, Humphrey
Sherman, George W. Sturtevant, Joseph Ordway. The
deacons were G. W. Sturtevant and Wm. L. Wadhams.
The trust.vs of the Baptist church elected since 1830,
(their names liaving been alredy given up to that time,)
iu order of their election, were as follows : Miles M'F.
Sawyer, DAn U. Kent, Albert P. Cole, Jonathan Nich-
ols, Palph A. Lovelaud, Lather Angier, Edmund J.
500 HISTORY OF WKSTl'ORT
Buiitli, William P. Ilolcomb, James A. Allen, Heiin-
D. Rauuey, Iienel W. Avuokl, Merlin Angier, Lorenzo
Gibbs, Fveeborii H. Pa^^e, Henry X. Cole, Harvey
Pierce. The pastors from that time to this liaci been
Rev. Cyrus W. Hodges, Pev. J. Pircharcl, Pev. S. "W.
Whitney, Pev. Tiiomas Praiult, (a descendant of the
famous Joseph Brant, the chief of the Mohawks during
the Revolution,) Pev. Thomas G. Wiight, Rev. O. W.
Moxlcy and Pev. F. P. Lang.
The preachers iu the M. E. churcli since its first es-
tablishment as a station, in 18o9, had been Rev. John
W. Belknapp, 1839; Pev. William M. Chipp, 1811;
Rev. John Thomson, lS-12 ; Rev. Hiram Chase, ISil ;
Rev Richard T, Wade, 1845 ; Pev. Valentine Brown,
1S16; Pev. William W. Pierce, 1847; Rev. P. H. Hul-
burd, 1848 ; Rev. Benjamin Pomeroy, 1819 ; Pev.
William H. Titlany, 1851 ; Rev. CharlesY. Hagar, PS5i> ;
Rev. L F. Yates, 1851 ; Pev. Peter P. Storer, 1850 ;
Rev. William W. Foster, 1857 ; Pev. Isaac C. Fenton,
XS59 ; Rev. T. W. Harwood, ISGl,
/
JUSTORY OF WESrrORT oOl
IX.
Civil \Vai^ lo 1875.
John Brown's borly Iny monLlering iu tho j];ravo, be-
ii<;atli his ^^randfathei''.s aucieut tombstone, on tbe North
Elba farm. Sixteen months after it had been borno
througli Westport, Fort Sumpter was fired upon, and
the war bepran. Tiiis paviod formed in every sense a
distinct era in the life of the town. Already declining
so far as commerce and manufacture were concerned,
the withdrawal of more than a hundred young men iu
the best years of their lives, some' for one year, some for
four years, some for ever, left the little town to a quiet
nearly approaching stagnation. But underneath the
outward quiet the nnjst intense emotions prevailed.
The principal events in life were tlje daily arrival of
steamboat or stage, with the mail which contained news
from the front, or with the arrival or depar-
ture of soldiers. In summer the boats came twice a
<lay, a night boat and a day boat, and iu winter the
stages came in once a day if the weather permitted.
There was no railroad, no telegraph, no express office
until after the war was over. Hence there was a re-
nu^teness from the seat of war, and a delay in the re-
i'eption of news, greater than that which was felt at the
time of the "Cuban war. lleliable news of battles came
sometimes weeks after tlie event, in soldiers' letters or
502 lusroh'Y OF iV£srro/rr
111 ijo\\>^j)rtpers, aUlioui^di there were sure to be disijui-.
etiu^ ruiuors imincdiatelj after every great battle, to
make women's hair tnru gray with suspense o,.s tliey
waited to learn the truth.
But still the town life, of course, wont ou with tho
same outward senil>hiuce. The men elected to otTice at
the March towu meeting before tho actual outbreak of
the war, were as follows :
aBGi.
Town Meetiuj» held at H. J. Persons,
Samuel 1:^001, Supervisor.
Barton B. Richards. Clerk.
Jason Bramun, Justice.
Daniel W. ih-atnau, Assessor.
William Frisbie, Highway CommissioTU'V.
Jonathan 1;". J['.raisted, Reuel W. Arnold. Poor Masters.
Charles W. Hok-omb, Cicero Sayre. Samuel W. Williams..
Tuspecturs of Election.
James A. Allen, Collector.
Janies A- Allen. Cyrenus R. Payne, Jeremiah Flinn,
Willard Ingalls, Kdn\ond J. Smith, Constables.
pathnwsters.— Henry Wood, Dounis Persons, Israel
Pattisou. Charles Pattison, Willuun Frisbie> Jeremiah
Flino, William P. -Merriam. William Harris. James M.
Wludlou, Simeon Miller, Wdliam F. Ciuitterton. Charles
Duuster, Sylvester Youncr, Dav'id R. Woodriitr, Fphraim.
Hill, Juhns(m Hill. Marcus Hoisiugton. Joseph Tryou.
Aaron B. Mauk, Abram Greeley, Alviu Burt. J ra Allen. K.
Westeott. Henry SLiennan. Isaac Lampman, Orrin Taylor,
James B. Barnes, .Martin Pterce. H.inrv Rjyce.
Voted to have m future but one R)ad Commissioner.
Edwm R. IVrson appointed Inspector of Election in
place of Samuel Williams, absent, perhaps on a boatiu;,'
trip.
Peter Ferris appointed I'oor Master iu place ol Picuel
Arnold, resigned.
Arnold opened a recruiting ofhee tliat summer, raised a
conjpar.y and left for the front in Seiitember. The town
records ot" the next four ycurs will here be i-Mvcn as usuu'.
I
iiJSTOiiY OF w'ESTroirr 503
Towu Meetitijr at H. J. Persous.
Samuel Root, Super^'isor.
Uarton B. Ru'bards, Clerk.
Aaron Clark, Justice. . -'. ,, '•
Harry J. i'erson, Assessor.
PLi'lei'as 1>. Merriam and .Tiirncs A. Allen. Pooi* Masters.
Hiukley Coll. Harvey P. Potter, Edwiu };. Low, luspec-
tors of Election.
John Steele. Collector.
John Ste'.'le. Ja'nes A. Alien. Harvey P. Potter, JCit-
tred^e Cross, Jeremiah Flinu, Constables.
Towu iVJeetiuc;^ adjo.urned to the Arinor3\
James A. Allen appointed Collector in place of John
Steele, deceased.
Pathmasters. — Henr}' Sheldon. Granville Stone. Henry
E. Warren, flenry Frisbie, Hiram H. Downey, Nathaniel
Allen, William Mclntyre, "William P. Merriam, William T.
Williams, M. P. Whallon. Simeon Miller, Eii Farnsworth,
Joseph E. Smith, W. W. Finney. D. R. WoodrulT. Calvin
D. Pratt. Levi Harris, Barnard Boyle, Jr.. Abuer Slaucfh-
ter, Matthew H Mack, John J. Greeley, John Ormistou,
Solomon Stockwell. Lumau F. Hubbard, Abrara Sherman,
Zelotus Fuller. Austin Taylor, Cortez Bennett, George W.
VauL'han. James' Fortune.
Then comes a report of a mass mectini^;
At a nii-etin^' of the citizens of the town of Westport.
held in tlie basement of the Baptist church on the eveuiu<x
of Aui^ust 2na, 18tJ2 pursuant to notice, Georire W. Goti
was duly elected chairman and Barton B. Richards sec-
retary. Addresses were delivered by Rev. Mr. Muusev.
Rev. Mr. Ilarwooa, Rev. Stephen Writ,dit, Victor
C. Spencer. Byron Pond and Rev. Mr. Sawyer. It was
voted to raise a local bounty of ?:10.00 for each volunteer,
and that a Committee of Finanee be appointed to solicit
subscriptions to raise a fund to pay a local buuutv to all
volunteers in this town, and transact such other business
as may be necessary in couucctiuu therewith.
This conunittee was thus constituted : SLUiuiel Root,
chairnian, l>aniel W. Bramau. William H. Richardson, M.
D., Harry J. Per.sons. Philetus D. Merriam William L.
AVadhams.'Calvin D. Pratt, F. H. Paut. D. M.Howard. B.
B. Riehards. Charles W. Hoieomb. Geor.'e \V. GuiL Said
50 1 insTonr or WKSTroirr
fonnnittee to met at tliL' lun of II. J. Person to report oa
the Tuesday evouiuu- next.
While preparations were thus rnnkiiif^ iVir tlie prose-'
ention of the v.ar which, had ab-oady bep;un, ai\other,
probably the last, of our pioneers crossed tlie border
laiid of that covintv}' -whence no emif;raut ever returns.
Capt. Jesse Braman died in 3862, aged ei^ht3'-six years,
having passed sixf}- years of his life in the s)>ot which
he had tirst seen iu all the untaujcd wildness of na-
ture. Bridge and dam and mills, the church, the
fechool-hcuse and the neigliborhood dwellings, lie had
seen them all built, and for twenty years after his com"
ing tlie place had been known by his name more gen-
erally than by any other. Himself a captain in the war
of 1812, he had at least three grandsons in tlio contliet
which was ragirig between North and South when he
looked his last ujion the strifes of earth.
This year we find tin; first mention of the Armory,
which was undoubtedly built in the fall of 18G1. It
still stands in the southern part of the village, on Main
street, a large brick building with long narrow windows,
not far from the lake shore. It was one of a series ^of
similar armories erected on the frontier tliat year. I
have understood that the selection of Westport as the
place for one of these storehouses of military 'supplies
was due to the elYorts of Mr. Balph Loveland. It was
never the scene of such activit}- as the arsenal at 'iiVv/.w-
bethtown during the war of 1812, and never contained
military stores. Its history is but a tame and hapjn-
record (»f commonplace events. It was pu)chased b^'
II I sn I in OF \vi:srr()iri r,<>:.
\\i-?. towii iu 1874 :iu 1 usGil ft))' town uioetiii;j;s ami j-ublir.
._';itlieiiii^s of ;tll kinds. Some enterpvissing ydiiDii ])P(»-
j.lc fitted it up with a st;ij»;e and seats and ga\i' a serii-s;
i'f private theatricals t(( the villap;ris, and iL was (»ften
uvo,] hy ti-avelin<i; -iliows aiiJ fov nehoi)! exhihitious after
tl.at. From 1805 tolS-SO it formed the '-Flora! Hall"'
/)f the County F;ii)'. and was: rjecorated every fall w itli
_My patcdiv/ork ijuiU-.. v.hije the air was tilh'.) with thf-
eouflictinjj; strains of a h;ilf dozen cottage or^auf;.
Wlien the Fair f^rouuils lay no longer upon the lake
>hoie it V, as ncA so well worth while to keep it in repair,
and as it uas always exceedingly inconvenient as a pul*-
lie buildinj.;. and difiicult to warm, it was at last sold to
j)r. Henry Hiekok, ahout ISS-j, and has since then heen
juivate pii;pei-ty. It has iveontly been used as ;,i paint
>hop.
Tc»\vn Meeting held in the .Nriij'jrr
Naniue.l liLK't. Supervisor.
WiUuini O. Nichols. ClerK.
Durton H. KiehurUs. Justii;e.
Alexander Steveusuu. Assessor".
Wullaee W . 01d>. Codector.
Kli Fa.'-L:>>w*_irth arid Janjes A. Allcu. Overs-.-ers oj tlic
J'oor.
Xo Inspectors of Klectioji wer^ iMected and it frP. u]roi,
ihejustit-es of the Pem-e to a]»poi!.t. Thov ajtixiiated
iliukh'V Ci>d. Kdwiii H. Faiw and Joseph E. Sinitli. Then
Jlmkiev Coll refused tw act. and C. J. Sawyer was lim-
i">inted iu bis placf. The Justiees wt'i-e William !•". Ciia't-
n-rtun. Uuvid S. MeL.-od and Aaron Clark".
\'oted U, raise .<!.') (M) to juii-ehase stove au(i i»i(»- fof the
ArstMiai.
KittredL'e Cros-,. I-Mwii, 15. r.„u-. A. W Unit. Ja!n(\s A.
Ail^'u, !Jt uiaai.'u f/.-aliv. Cor).->tai)le^.
/
.-,(i>! iiisTinn' or \vi:sTi'<)[!T
Wari-Mi. Aivliibui.l I'.i.rtisDti. Wiiliaiii FiMsoio Nat 'u;ui;>'i
Ali.-ii, Lau,-.Mi>. H. Whir.-. .Josepii .lam.'^. William T. Wii
iiarns. Aai\;;i Aiiu-.T K. Stuftf'vant, Kli t"ai-;iswoiTh.
Cburlt's D. Ulster. W W. l-'iuiiey, William Lawrence. Cir-
iTo Sayre. Li'vi Mari'is. .Julius Van^han. Joscpii Tryuu. K.
.1. Smi'lh, Klra/ci- W.-lcb. J>iaiuai-'l llouard. Kol•l•(■^,{ ( l.iod-
>.)■,■.■<!. Julius W V'-vvU. Morrill CiM.s. Z.*l(;iiis Fiill.M-.
Austin Taylor, Aloin't J*lei'ee. Isaac T. J'tbiison. Jaavs
Fi.rtutjc.
ISC, 4.
Town Meetiiit,' licUi iu the Armory.
Datiifl W. Uramau. 8ii[iorvisoi-.
Edwin B Low. Clerk.
Williini L. Wadha.ms. .lustiee.
Joseph K. Sinitii. Assessor.
Hai-rv X. Colt.'. tii!,''ljwav Comtuissioner.
William Wallace Old.s. Collector.
Charles C Dnnster. Jame.s A. Albni. Poor Masters.
Luther B. Newel!. Charles Patters )n. [{iakloy Coll. Iti-
specr.»cs,of Election.
William W. Olds, Edwiu H. Low, Jeremiah L'linn. Jaavs
A. Alleu. Ctiarles Sweatt. Peter Jonbcrt. Constables.
Pathiiiasters. — Alijcri Carpenter, Denis LVrsons. l.sra<'l
I'atTei-son, Archibald Patterson. Jeremiah Flinn. \\'!llia;n
Frisbie, William .\lclntyi-e. William P. Mer-iam. Wiliiam
T. Williams, li ither Ani,ner. Levi II. Cross. Edm(>iid Sturf
• 'vai)t. Cliurles Sweatt. Oscar Taylor. William Lawrcuc.
iloward Faru.Nunrth. Harvey Smith, l^ariiey Boyle. Jr..
Flarriman Daniels, Aaron B. Mai'k. .-ibrahain Greeley.
Alviii liui-t. S.)lomon Stoekwell. Julius F'M'ris. F-iartna
Boyce. Alexander .Nk(rid. Orren Taylor, Cortcii Bennett.
Isaac T. Johnson. V. J. Clen^ent.
Town Meetin;.' adjom-)!ed to the Arinorv.
.\t a spceicd mc'i'tiiii.!- of rhe Town .\uditors of Westjioi-t
t:ds L'Hth day of .March, ISliJ. tor the pnrpo.se of raisini:
money to [lay men as volunteers to till our quota for tiii'
last eali otTwo Hundred Thousand, it was voted to rais"
Twel\e Hundred r)olIats to nay said men.
Siiirned by D. W. Braman. S'.ipervisor, Edwiu B. Low.
Town Clerk, a.nd Willi. im F. Chanerton, Jusou Braui;;'\
Mid Partem B. iiieliards, Ja.sticivs.
/
iiisToiiv OF MKsrroirr m>7
A similar tn.H^ing A[)ril 20tb, lSb4. voted to ruise sLSUd,
with wbifb to pay boutity to six rc-ciilistod humi. each to
have $;'i)(>.UO Tbese inpn were Cbarles H. Davis. James
K. iJariies. Moses Tatro, Detitiis Tbumas. (7eor<,fe Allen,
and Hiram IJurt.
At a public iiieotint,' of the citizens of \Vesti)ort held piir-
sr.ant t(» a call of Ibe Supervisors of Essex coimly. at tbe
IJapti.st cbiirch. Aiii'-ust 30. IbOi. Voted Satn"nel Rout,
Chainnau, IJarton 13. liicbards. vSecretary.
Tbe cbjinuaii brieMy stated tbe object of tbe meetiiiir to
Ih' for tb(M;>nrpose of raisiiii,' a t-nvn Iciuiity C/i' -^'rjO.OO, lo
bll our quota with vohiuteers aud draft, and to discuss
lUe propriety of instractin<; oiir supervisor t ) request tbe
Hoard of Supervisv)rs to assess tbe town ou iLie grand list
an amount sutticieui for tbat purpose. Voted tbat tins
/neetint^ guarantee tbe sum of soil. 00 to all who may enlist
tv)-iHgbt. After some discussion it was movcij and voted
tbat the chairniau appoint a eomnnttee of eigbr. of wiiicb
be sbould be cbairmau, to arrange a jdan to {present to our
next nioetiug for raising a bjunty. Wbei'iMipon tbe chair
announced tbe following gentlemen as such committee;
D. L. .Allen. B. B. Richards. D. W. Brauian. (ieorge W.
(iotr, J. W. Kddy, F. H. Tage. A. Pattison. At the re-
<-piest of D. W. Braman be was excused from said commit-
te<.! aud \\.\j. Wadbanis substituted. Voted that tbe chair
a(l<l three to saifi committee, and Calvin O. Pratt. ,loseiib
v.. Smith aud !). M. Howard were aceordiriLdy added.
\'oted tbat an expression of this me^-tiug sanctions tbe
|)!an r.f taxing the ti>wn to raise the bounty for volunteers.
The vote was nearly unanimous if) favor. \'oted tbat Or-
lando Kellogg bo invited to address our next meeting.
Adjourned to next week Thursday ev(>.
Signed by Samuel Root, Chairman. P.arton II. rjieiiards.
Secretary, and Kdwia B. Low. Town Clerk.
Ttiis yeai- and thetwo following- -hSlJl Tv t) — r)r. William
H. Richards<i(i. one of our \Vest})oi-t physicians, was sent
to the Assembly.
Town Mettiiig held in th(» Armory.
Daniel \V. Braman. Supei'v isor.
Reuben J. Ingalis. Clerk.
Jason Jiraman. Jnstici:',
y
.-j(fs iiisTdin' OF wr.srrnirr
iJaviil L A'iKmi and jMiMthan F. 15iMi.-;tc(l. A.ss<;Ssofs.
Nuel M.TVill. Ilii/lnvav ("<)m'ni.-,si.Mier.
Hosea ['.. ilnuai-.l. (':.ll.'ctMi-,
f^f'ter IV'i-ris and ('hafhs C Punst.M-. Viu^v .Mustf-^rs.
Rrufl \V. Arnold. ()iaiiLr.M;d>bs. Alh.'rt Pieive. lusp-v-
tdfs oi l:2'.('ctii»n.
IVti'i- JouixTl. Hosra ll-iward. ChaiU-s IT. Pathsuii. Wi: -
liani Sails and Thoaias Di.-kci-son. rdnstahles.
Patinna.stors.— O. JJ. Howard. Melvin Carp^'uter. R. W.
Arnold. Henry Frisbio. A Ibert Cole, Charles tloicoiub, Al
inon A. Alien. William I*. .Merriam. Merlin \V. An^jfim-.
Cvrus'H. llovt'C. Kduniiid Sturtevant. Klijah Wright.
Orrin flardy. lients HasTeii. A. J\ llarrwell, Epbruieo
Hill. llarveV Sniitli. Al^iram Olds, Harriinaa Daniels. Al
bert Carpentei'. Win-en Pooler. Hrainard B. Howar'i.
Solomon Stoekwell. f^ee f^i-ontv. Abram Sherman, John F.
Smirh. Oisoii Tavlor. Martin \'aiM^^ban. Fra.nKliu Piere.-.
Webster Poye<\ Riley Palmei-.
This year, I am tt)]tl, tlie arclioil .stune bridge in th-*
villa<.^e. was built, aitliuii^'ii it is not uieDtioiieil in the
Town JMtok. Tliej'e hail l)oen a Wi)odon bri^l^e at tlii--
place sitiee the time of the early settlers. In Au^n<t
of 1S',)7 there was a tl^o'l which t'X)]^ oo.t the eastni-n-
eml of the l)ri:l;j;e, (h>st!oyiiiL;- the smaller arch. This
small arch was built to ])roserve au ancient right of w.iy
for the tliime which ran t«> tlu; Old Stoue Mill, auu w hm
the brid_:j;e uasi'tdjnilt it was necessary still to ros]'>.'et
this ri,i;ht of way, altlion;.;h n(Uhin-- is less likely than tha.t
the water-[xr.vei- will ever be carrieil past the bii>lu'*
again. In June o[ VM)'.-, the n[istre;im wall of thebriil.:'-
nave w;iv. hut rep.aiis were carrn-d twi with no interruji-
tion to tiallie. In LSi!."), .md .again in 1807, a temporary
bridge was built a little wav u[» stream.
.\l an adjuiirned s{)ecial Town Meeting held at the Ar
mory in Westivu't, on tlie 1-lth day of January, ISi),'), pur
SLiant to ii(»:iei- giv.nx ni.'i,:^e:no.n" L^'.irh. ISiil. aecordiuj:
J
insT(nn' OF wi:sTi'(}irr .'>(>!>
(.. law. for till' pui'[)use of raisini: iiioiicy to puy boLin-
iM's to voluLitoei'.s. to lii! tLi(> qu-itu of llic town f,!'
Wrstport uhdfi- the !a>t call of tno J'reside.it for nOO.IHitl
iDOU. X'ottHi Aarou Ciark t-liair.nan atiii IJartou I!.
I.'lrbards sccrc'lary of tLo ini'i'tin^r, and adjoiirnrd
lit IJurtou l>. Kii.-lnird^' stort-. The iiieetiu;^'' was called
:■> order by the chairuiau. \^lio bricfiy stated tl'c ob-
j''ct of the mcetiuir. wboreu[)on it wasiaovodand s^coiidcul
li» i-aisc the suiji of .•?St)()il and place in the hands of the
lioard of T<>\vn Oflicors. or so n)iich tlicroof as may be uec-
<-sai-y to p;:y bounties to volunteers to fi'l the ({untai'flhis
tiiwa. An aaiendnient uas tijcii oll'ered u nd ai-i-e|;ted to
r,ii>e the sum of :s]ll.0tlO. to be used in the same way and
fir the same purpose. \'oted that a (.'oomiittee of tive l)c
appointed by this raeotinLT. to be associated with the Hoard
'•f Tovvn Officers to assist in raisins.'' volunteers. This com-
mittee was Samuel Root. F. Ji. Pa^'e. Israel Patterson. Kd-
mund J Smith and Samuel Piei'ce. Atljourned. Sif.Mied U\
Aarou Clark. Cliairnian. fJ. P>. Pichards. Seeretarv and K.
!;. Low. Town Clerk.
This i.s the last record \u the oM I'owii Fiook whieli
makes allusicui to the vrar. I will tell the story of the
merj wh<» went awav to fij^ht as I have been al)Ie to
iialher it from their own lips ami tliose of their ci;m-
iadfs ami fainiliis. There <)U;^ht to l»e a r.coid of nnr
'•nlisted men on tile in th(> town clerk's olVice, but search
has failetl to reveal it, and J have been obliped to de-
pend entirely u])on the assistance mentioned; therefore
it will br seen that some )james may be omitted which
<'Up;ht to stand here, and other mistakes may be made
which th(;se who conie after tne v.ill have the j)rivilo.^e
<*f oorrectiny;.
'i'lic I'll -St \'o\ init* '< M-r^.
Fort Sumter was surrendered A[nil M, ISfU, and the
next day President Lincoln calleil for soventy-tive thou-
->ind voJiinteeis to ]ii't d()\\ ij the Ijebellion. Instantly
J
It) ///s'j'oj:y (//■' \vi:sTr()!rr
till' N()rth ics])()iiilt^l. Two voniii^ uicii from \Ve->ti">)ii <
eiillstcil lu'toio th.' eiiil of llx.' iiioiitli. Ix-iu^^ not only tli- \
tirst to ♦Mili-.l I'loiji tlioirowii t')\vii, but also th"tirst I'l'OMi \
tijo county. j
Cue of tlu'so youti;:^ \iwn was Washington Irving \
Sawyov, who was attending school at Hainptt)n Insti- j
tdtt}, Fairfax, Vt., when thr^ call Un- troops came. He
\v;is tlu-ii twenty-two, tlic-son of Mil.\s McFarland Saw- |
yer, and great-grandson of Isaac Sawyer the Indian |
tighter, wI)ose nan^e is conrjected with the story of a \
daring escape from captivity daring the Bevohitiouai-y
war. He immediately left his studies and came horn--,
declaring his intention of enlisting. He found an«)ther
young man as eager as himself, with whom he had
played in childhood, —Napoleon Joubert, brother >ii
3[rs. P. P. IJacon. In vain they were urged to wait
until a coiiijiany was form»Ml in town, of winch there
^vas a pr-)s;)ect. Tiiey left at once for AUjany, and there
Irsing Sawyer enlisted in llie ISth N. Y. V., which w,;s
att.iched to N'/wton"s brigade, Porter's corps, Army of
the Potomac. The next summer, June 27, lS(/2, he wa^
killed at the i^attle of Gaines Mill, Va., and his wid-
owed mother n<'ver s;iw his face again. His three broth-
ers also went to tlie war afti'rw;ird. Napoleon -jcuibert
enlisttul in the 4th \. S. Cavalry, and was a corporal in
Company C. He was wounded by a sht)t which passed
entirely through ouelung, but recovered, and lived until
P)01. His brother Cassius enlisted afterward, and di«>«l
ii\ hospital ill Baton Pvouge^ La.
J
iiist()i:y or WKsrroirr r>ij
Corn J )au\ K ol 1 Ik > 'J'hii-ty FJliIiiIi,
The next ]*ul)lic event uftm' the ilt^pa,rtuv.^ of youup;
Sawyer and Jonbert dccuned u}>c>ii ;i claycuil}- iu June,
\vlien a com]>.'Uiy of Eliz;vbethto\vu men c;une out ;inil
took tlie steamboat for the south at otir wli.uC. This
was Comiiany K of the obith New Yoik Volunteers,
<'i>iurnan:lr(l by Ca{)t;.iiit Satnucl C. I'Jwyer, a yonuu' hiw-
\er of Eli/.abothtown, uho had sj.iut a pai t of his
scliool days iu "Westport ;ujd was wtdl-knosvn here. In
this company were seven Westjjort boys, all from Wad-
hanis and its vicinity, and two others wlir) have since
rt-sided in town. The |-^8tli regiment was mustert-d into
t^ervice iu New York, left the State June ]9th and
reached Washingtou June 'Jlst. In these first days cjf
the war soldiering wa.s looked ujxni as a gay excursion
into the grrat world, ;i picnic at the exj)ense of L'ncle
S;im,\vith s'UMf agre'eM.bh' diilliiig a)id marching ilir(>wn
it;. Tin-? greatt.'St uncertainty was the fear lest lliev
might be oblig.id to i-ome back with^-ut seeing any
lighting, and the crowd of merry yonng fellows who
march.ed at-ross the gang-plank on bc-ard the boat that
June day went with In ight e) es and laughing lip^. proud
that the wlmle town was tluu'e to look on and see what
a tine shov.- rhey maile. A little over a month, and the
-J'^tli, in \\'ilri>\"s brigade, Keintzebnann's division, ad-
vanceil with the rest of the army to the lirst battle of
Ibdl liun. For four hours it was in close action.
After the ]ia!Mc-stiieken retreat it was fnund that
ihe re'dujeiit l>ad lost oue hundred aiiii twent\-
J
\12
ff I STORY OF WhST/'o/rr
ei-hr in^n in kill,..], ^umnd■.\ aw\ mis.iM- Pitt
K.l^.u- \Va,ll,:uns, >oi, of Ahral.a.M Wa.lliams, w,-,s
severely w.)n,„l,.,I. an,] O.lan.lo ]]. Wl.itu.M- ar.l
Oooro-e Boutwell were taken juisoi.ers. Whitney di.-l
iii prison, an,] Dontuell spont n)nn. tlian a year ii, .lif.
ferent southern }nis.,ns. nearly starving to .leati^ an.l
n-turn.no. alter ins exehan-e in a njost pitiaLle cndi-
tion of weakness. These were tlie realities of war an,|
••^ft.'r th.- Inst h:.ttle of Bull Jlun no one aoubted the
possibility of tightin- an.] of ,k-,,th. Companv K .^f
the :iSth was the only ..r-anixation from Essex eounfv
at this hrst l.attl. of the war. The next su.nmer, in
May of LSO-i, Captain Dwyer was tnortallv wonn<!ed a^
tlio battle of Willian^shurg, ,lyin,.^a few davs afterward
at St. John's Hospital in Philadelphia. His b(Mlv Mas
sent homo to Ebzabethtown, and again the townspeo-
ple gathere,] at th.e wharf, thrs time to see the colHn
earned ])y which contained all ihat was left of the gal-
lant yonng captain who had st^.p^e,] upon the deck so
hghtly .)nly a year before. Others .^f our nion in Coin-
p my K were (bjorge French, who was a sergeant ; (J.
Wesley Daniels, who was wounded Dec. 18,^ bS(j2, at
rrederieksburgji, was pronu,ted corporal of Conipanv
(', and served to June 22, lS*i:; ; Oieorge Averv and
Moses Coyer. Martin Marshall an.] Stephen Hatha-
way are at present r.'sidents of Westport, tlie latter the
oldest surviv.ir of Cumpauv K.
J
jiisTonr OF wKsTPoirr .>7.v
0)in}ian>- A of the Scvonl y-Sevonth.
The excitement fitteiul-ant iH)Oii the departure of Com-
[);iiiy K of the oSth served to int(!iisify tlie war spirit
ah-eady awakeiied, and once inf«re the centre of Alain
street was daily used for the drilling of squads of men,
while the air was full of war talk and military terms.
Then living in town was an old soMier, Willian) Harris
by name, who had been in the United States dragoons
under Gen. Harney, tightiug Indians on the Western
plains. Exempt b\' age from military service, he threw
himself into the work of drilling the young men who
hinged for a soldier's life. A recruiting office was
opened in the village, Eeuel W. Arnold having received
authority to raise a company, and by the middle of the
summer fifty young men ha(l signed the roll, most of
them boys entering the twenties, with a few married
men a little older vvdio expected to receive commissions,
Se]>toml)er 15 they were mustered into service, and two
days later took the boat to go to Saratoga, where
they lieen ordered to join a regiment that was being
organized by the Hon. James B. McLean. There the
company was soon recruited to its maximum strength of a
hundred men fr(jm Jay, Keene and surrounding towns,
and being the first on the ground, was called Company
A. The regiment was called "the 77th," or "Bemis
Heights Jjattalion," named, as Watson remarks, ''by
the suggestions of the spot," in allusion to the surren-
der of Burgoyue at Saratoga iu 1777. This was prob-
ably the only regiment iu tlie servic which was num-
bt-rcd puii'h for sentimental reasons. In lu-tual num-
J
rtJ4 JIISTOKY OF WKS'TPOh'T
erica! order it stood soineuliei'e in the forties. The
regiraental flag eiuphasized the historical alhisiou. "The
banuer," says Dr. George T. Stevens, in "Three Years
in the Sixth Corp.s, " "was an exquisite piece of -vvorh,
of tlie ricliost fahric; a hhie ground with eh^gant de-
signs in oiL On one side was represented an engage-
ment in which tlie American soldiers, led hy Washing-
ton, were fighting under the old flag,--tliirteen stripes
and the union jack. On the reverse was pictured the
surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga under tlie new flag, —
the stars and stripes." The colonel of the regiment
was the lion. James B. ^IcLoan, M. C, succeeded after
one year by Col. Winsor B. French.
A mouth in camp, then on November 2od they were
mustered into the service of the United States, and on
Thanksgiving Day started for "Washington. The .c(jm-
(lany had elected Beuel AY. Arnold Cajit.iin, Y'llliani
Douglass First Ineutenant and James H. Farnswortli
Second Lieutenant, these three men being somewhi.it
older than the majority of the company. The regituent
received guns and equipments in New York, and upon
arriving at "Wa^^hiugton went into cam]) on Meritlian
Hill. There was much sickness in camp, and here the
comiiany met with its first loss, Hiram J*ersons dying
in hospital. On January 5, ISG'2, Lieutenant Faru.s-
worth resigned his commission and returned home,
Charles Eilson Stevens being [iromott-d to the vacant
oSice.
February L")th, 1802. the regiment receive.! its first
orders to niareh, being sent acros.- the rivi-r into Yv:-
J
iiLST(UiY OF M'FsrrfJirr ->].;
(i^'iu'ia to join Ggii. W. F. Smith's division, and assigueil
to the :>rd Biip;ade under Gen. Davidson. They marched
all (iay in mml knee deep, with rain and sleet ])Ourin<.^
down upon theiu, and pitched their tent at ni^jht upon
f^iouud covered v.ith snow. Here they remained iu
camp till March 8th, doing their first picket duty in
front of the enemy. "But on the Sth of Mtueh," says
Major Stevens, in a sketch of the history ot the 77th
^vhich the author has freely used in this account, ''the
question 'Why don't the army move?' wasaiiswered by
orders to be ready to march at 4 o'clock in the morning,
and the great army that had been so long drilling was
to be launched at the Confederate force that held Ma-
nassas all winter.*' But the Confederate army retreated,
and the 77th, with the rest of the division, went into
camp at Fairfax Court House a few days, then marched
for Alexandria where they camped on ground covere'l
ankle deep with water, with rain which rendcied it im-
]>ossible to liuild fires. This is remembered as the worst
night ever experienced by the V7th,aud the spot is known
by the name of "Camp Misery." From there they took
transports for Fortress Monroe, and went into camp at
Xewjunt News, near the river. Here they saw t})e wreck
of the U. S. frigate Cinnhviiand, sunk by the Jfi rrinirtr a
few days before, and here the rebel gunboat Tt-n.^rr
came out and threw a few shells over the cam]), the first
which our men had ever seen coming from the enemy.
Then came the campaign up the peninsula, with great
liardships for new soldiers. The water from marshy
ponds tluMT only drinking supjUy, tv[)hoid s^on broke
J
r>ii; insTonv or ]\'/:sT/'(jjrr
c»ut ainonr; tliem, and every dav oue or two were sent
back lo the lins|iital, "some to be sent iiorfb, and som^-
to be buried under the pines." For a inunth they lay
under the works at Yorktown doing picket duty and
buikling forts, sonit^tiinei; lieing eallei.1 uj) two or three
times in a nigiit to form a liue whih^ theu' was severe
firing n))ou their pickets. .Vpril 3rd, LS02, Caj>tain
Arnold resigned his commission, as did also Jjieutenunt
Douglass a few days afterward, and they returned home.
May 6 occurred the battle of Williamsburg, the first
serious engagement in which the 77th took ]iart. Here
they saw fttr the tirst time the boys of the oSth, whom
they had clieered as they left ^\'estport a year before,
and here it was that Captain Dwyer wtis shot down.
"At Williamsburg," says Major SteA"ens, "we saw the
3Sth march into the woods while we were laying in suj)-
V)Ort at Gen. Sumner's headipiarters, until v.e were or-
dered to jr)in (fen. Ilan.cock on the right, and there
learned of Vno dealii of Ca[>tain Dwyer." After this
came the siege of Hichmfjud and the Seven Days re-
treat, when the men fought daylimes and marched
nights, becoming so worn out that they would drop
down in the road at every halt and fall asli eji without
stirring from their })laces, and even slept while march-
ing. After tht; l)attle of Malvern Hdl the 77th was
transferred from the peninsula t(; join Gen. Po})e near
Washington, and took part in the second battle of Bull
Itun, August •2'Jth. Theu it was sent into Maryland
with Durnsiil.''s column of McC'lellan's army to check
the movements of Gen. Ia'^-, a i'le;isant march into a
iiisTuh'Y or \vi:sri'()irr .w?
brautifiil t'oiuiti-y, endiiip; with lljt' h;iii:l-f(Uip;ht battle
of South Mount. tin, Septembci litli, followuJ iu'iuiedi-
ately l-)y tho teiiiWhi coiitlicl of Atitiotam, it) which over
17,000 inou woie killed and W(ninileil, the iiieatost loss
iu one da}- of the Uniou arn)\' during the war. 'JMio
.sixth corps, to whicdi the 77th was attached, came up
after a hard forced march, charged over ground
which had bc'tii alrcidy I'oaglit over tliree tiuus daring
the day, and hel 1 the jiosition. Here Sergeant Hiram
Barnes and Wesley Comptou of Com):»aiiy A were
■svouiided, and discharged for disability. After spend-
ing some time in hospital, Sergeant ]^>arnes re-eulisted
iu the IfGth, where he became one of a ]ucked com])aiiy
of shai[>shooters. He was afterward captured by the
enemy, and was iu Liljby prisou for five weeks, then
transferred to the stockade at Salisbury, N. C, where
■he remained six .months, noarh- dying from stai'vation
and exposure. ^Vith him theie was Silas W. riinn,son
of Jerry Flinn, a boy who sunk l)euealii the hardships
(if the {)lace, and died in the arms (jf Sergeant Barnes.
Bai-ues sat and held him for three hours after the
breath of life had left him, with a circle of the other
prisoners standing around to hide them fro(u observa-
tion, in onler to make sure that the boy was dead be-
fore he was taken out upon the dead-cart and cast into
the pit This was one horror which a faithful frieud
might spare another, even in Salisbury stockade, and I
would that Westport boys should always remember the
story, hnig after the tall form and white beard of Ser-
g''ant I^llll^•s •^hdi be no long'-r se<'!i u[>oii oui- streets.
/
•vZy UlSTOliV OF WESTPORT
AVliC'U We find in our own liistory such un instance of
suffering aiul devotion, let us see to it that it shall not
be forgotten.
About a month after the battle of Autietam the 77th
was again marching into A'irginia to participate in the
disastrous battles of Fvedericksburgh and Marve's
Heights. In the hitter engagement the 77th captured
the ISth Mississippi, colonel, colors and ah, or at leasr
they did actually capture the colonel, {CaA. Luce,) a
large numbei- of prisoners, a stand of colors and a quan-
tity of small arms. This was one of the inciilents
which led Gen. Davidson to say affectionately of the
77th, "It is a little regiment, but it is always in thr
right place." They recrossed the river to spend the
remainder of the winter in camp at White Oak Church,
on the Happahannock. Here some of the ofticers" wives
visited them, among them tlu? wife of the reginiental sur-
geon. Dr. George T, Stevens. She was a ^^'estport girl,
iViiss Harriet Wadhams. In December C. E. Stevens
was [iromoted First Lieutenant, and William F. Iiyf)n
Second Lieutenant. In the spring the army again
cro.ssed the river, and this time the heights of Fred-
ericksburgh were carried by Uuiou troops, while Gen.
Hooker was being beaten at Chaiiceilorsviile. May 1-4.
The 77th was one of the regiments detailed to assist the
engineer iu laying pontoon bridges across the Hap-
pahannock. This work was greatly iuijieded b\- con-
stant firing from the rebel rifle pits on the other side
of the river, and it was in the performance of this duty
/
llISTOh'Y OF WF.Sri'oirr r>i!i
tliat ]^-.x H;ivoti.s \v;is killoa. Pill Wndhams wus killed
oil the tiiiid day, bein.i:; shot in tlie ri^^ht temple.
Tiieii the thirtl of July, caiue the giuul battle (jf
(iettysbursji;, in v,hit-h the 77th was held iu reiserve ui)o!i
Powers' Hill, neur Geii. Slocam's lioadquartevs, where
the reoiiuental mounmeut now stands.
Olhor reginjents in which ^Vest])ort men had enlisted
which were i>r(.\Sfnl at the b.iLtl ) oi (Jetty si ua\^' were
the 2n 1 New Yoik Cavalry, or the ''Harris Light Bri-
^'ade," the oth New York Cavalry, the P2th and the
4-ith X. Y. Infantry.
After the battle, the 77th, (with the rest of the Sixth
Corps.) was sent in pursuit of Lee toward the Potoinac.
He esca})od, and wlien the}- caiue to Petersville, Md.,
<nj the Potoinac, th.ey were obliged to wait for orders to
cross. While in catu}) at this point, some of the offi-
cers" wives wh(> hail been in Washington, waiting an
oppojtnnity to vi^^it their husbands, made a short visit
at the oiiireis' ([uarLei>». It was at this time that the
surgeon's wife, Mrs. Stevens, iiresetited the regiment
witii a beautiful pair of guidons. The ground was blue,
with the white Greek cross which was the badge of the
division, and in the center of the cross thetigures "77."
Tijese are the tattered guidous which may U(nv be seen
in the capitol at Albany, carried by the regiment
thr'Higli all the remaining battles of the war. It is
pl(!asant to think, while gazing upon them, that they
were mafle by a daughter of Westport.
The remainder of the 3ear was spent by the 77th in
Virginia, between AVashingtcjn and the Papp.ihannock,
y
ry20 JIISTOHY C>F WLSTl'Oirr
with a few sldnnislies, and the ;ut\iiiic<.; t(.> Mine Iluij.
While in caiEpKt Hart's Mills, \'a., ou the iJappahan-
Lock, tlie wifo of Cai)taiiJ Davoiport, of the Fifth Ver-
mont, visited him. She had been Frances Wadliam5>,
and was sister of Mrs. Stevens. Ca[>tain l)aveii[>ort
was killed in battle the next May.
In the spring the Army of the Potomac, under Gen-
eral Grant, ento'eu upon the final campaign against
Fiichmond. On the 5th of May, 18G4, the 77tli crossed
the Fiapidau with about five hundred guns. The 12th
of ^lay there 'were not more than a hundred men in
line, the balance of tlie regiment ha\iug been killed ov
wounded. From the crossing of the x'wiv to the first of
July there were but few days when the regiment was
not under fire. The battles of the Wikhn-ness and of
Spottsylvania were among the most sanguinary and
prolonged struggles of the war. On the 10th of 3[ay
twelve regiments, one of th.em the 77th, wtre chosen to
charge the eiienjy's works. There were three lines of
defense. The first, the second, the third, were taken
Avithout halting. Then the eneiu}' was re-enforced, and
our men were driven back, leaving their dead and
wounded behind them. One of those killed in the last
line was Lieut. William F. Lyon, son of Isaac Lyon.
Cieorge Allen, son of Nathaniel Allen, was also kilieel at
Spottsylvania.
The 77tii tO(.'k pait in tl'e twelve days' figlitiiig at
Coal Harbor, Ya., from June 1st to the 12th. Here,
they first met tlie l>oys of the 118th, who had left West-
}«ort a year after Company A. "The tirst time wo met
H/STony or WKsrronr r>2i
the 118th rcgipjent/' says Mnjur Stevens, "was at Coal
Hail. or after the disastrous charge on their works. Our
regiment was moved out to the picket line in the nif,'ht,
and tlie morning found the ri^ht of our regiment join-
ing the left of the llSth, and we lay in that hole until
they were sent around to Peterslturg by water, and we
marched across the peninsula."
"While tlie 77th hiy in the works before Pet^'rsl)urg a
singular incident occurred, which is thus related by
])r. George T. Stevens in the book already once referred
lo. "On the •22il (of June) Colonel BidwelTs brigade
^)ccupied the front line of rifle pits. Tlie sun was shin-
ing brightly, and our men, unprotected by shelter,
were striving to pass the time with as little discomfort
as possible. A group of men of the 77th were behind
the breastwork, stretched out upon the sand, resting
upon their ell)ows and amusing each other with jokes,
when a sht-l! came sluieking into th(4v midst, lis ex-
plosion throw them in every direction. One went high
in the air :Mid fell twenty feet from the sj)Ot where he
was lying when the shell exploded. Strange to tell, not
a man was killed, yet tln-ee had each a leg crushed U;
jelly, and two others were seriously wounded. The
t!iree whose legs were crushed were Sergeant James
r»arnes, James Lawrence, and James Allen, of Company
A." Tuo of these men, James Barnes and James Tjaw-
rence, came from Westjiort, and au'itlier one of our
men, Moses Tatro, was injured at the same time, being
wounded in the hand by a fragment of the shell. ])r.
Stevens tells how in thirtv minutes' time from the be-
522 11 1 ST 0 II Y OF WFsrrciirr
ginning of tlio operation each of those Jameses had a
Iv;; aiiipiitatcHl jnst ahove the kneo, liad the stani]is
• Iressoil, and wtae Icnulod in to au auihiihuice and takfii
to tlte hospital at City Point. Froni ihvw thoy were
removed to Wttshingtou, wliero tiiey received much at-
tention fron) visitors who liad heard the strange story.
All livevl to return to Essex connty, and wore often al-
lud^-d to as "IIk; thrt^e one-legged Jims."
When Gen. Early threatened Washington the Sixth
Corps, to which the 77th v.-as attached, was sent to oi<-
pose liiin. "On tlie r2th of July our brigade made a
charge on the enemy at Fort Stevens, in which every
commanding officer of regiments was eitlier kiUed or
wounded. President Lincoln from the rainp;ats of Fort
Stevens (one oi the defensive works of Washington)
witnessed the charge, it being the only battle of the war
which WHS fought under his eye. The battle decided
Gen. Eai-ly rhat the tia;ie U> capture Washington had
passed, and he retreated to the Shenandoah valley,
where we followiHl him v^ai'der- the ooniinand of Gen.
Sheridan, there to clear him out of the valley by the
battles of Winchester, Fisher's FliU and Cedar Creek."
At the b-ittle of Winchester^tho 77th occupied ground
near the ruins of au ohl church which was surrounded
l>y graves. One of these graves, covered with a pl.iiii
marble tablet, broken across, Wiis that of Gen. Daniel
Morgan, the dashing Pvevolutiouary cummaifdev who
led his compauy t*f Virginia sharp-shooters to Boston.
to offer their services to Washington, and who took
such a biilliaut part iu tlie b^atlesof Saratoj^a. Could
insrour or WKsn'Oirr .vjr.
he have sat \ip and looked avound liiu., and seen the
banuer of the 77t!i, with its painted picture of the sur-
render of Burgoyne, what would he have thoui^ht of the
rn-niis Heif^hts Battalion I
It was the battle of Cedar Creek which was begun by
an attack from the Confeder;i.les with "Siic-vidau twenty
miles away," as i^ told in the stirring porMU by Iiead,
so C'fteji df chuiiie<I by Kchoul boys;, beginning.
"Up from the south at break of day,
Bringing to Wiucht-ster fresh dismay/'
but when Sheridan arrived upon the field, the Second
Division, to which the 77th belonged, was the only one
in the whole army whicli retained its ])evfect formation.
It lay at the extreme leJt of the infantry Hue of buttle.
>So when a Westport boy comes to the lines, —
''The fir.>t ibat ttie General saw were the groups
Of stragglers, then the retreating tro(_>ps." —
he may think to him.self that although the men of the
77th were there at that crucial moment, liiey were not
letreatitjg, an.d that when the black horse covered "with
foam and with dust," came galloping up, bringing Shei-
idan
"all the way
From Winebcsler d./wa to save the day." —
the Westport men did not neeil to be rajlied, for they
had not scattered.
In the engagement which fcylloued the arrival of Sher-
idan u{>on the battle-tield, Brigadier-General Bidwtll
was killed, and tlie ca[>tain of our Con^pany A, Captain
George S. Orr, (who had taken the ])lace of Cai)taiii
.Arnold upon jrhe resignation of the latter, i lost an arni
.■>-j-t msTOirv or WEsrrnirr
from tlie oxpl«).sioii ol" t!>e .^nnit) ^lu;ll whieli killcl tii--
(iciiera]. Hiniiii l>uvt was killsM] at this time. Tii'-
death of General Iji.hveli lut't Coloiiel F>vuoh of the 77th
ill eotninantl of the hri;:;aJe.
The Fifth Now Yoi'k Cavrvli'v, ^vith some Westixjit
iiieu in Coiupaiiy H, foujjbt at the left oi' the 77t!i in
the Shou;tij*ioah valUn'.
On tho 9th of I'^Hc.MiiUer the SiKth Corps left the vai-
hn% and retiutujil to tlie works before Potersburi^.
There tljej hiy all winter. On lliy 2ii.l of April, lSf>3,
the oar|i.s made a biillianL cliar;„>e and captured the
works in front of them, the -ilHh N. Y. and the 77th N.
\. formini^ the |Viint of the wedi^e that bi^^ke the Con-
federate line, and cfimpelled th.e ev;\onati(jn of Rich-
umnd and Petevsbaij^h by Gen. I^ee. In this oliar-^
the senior officers of ihe battalion were woniidtd, and
.^blj()V C. .E. Stevens left in eomtnr»nd. For theremain-
lU'V of the eaui[i;ii!4n, \vhic]> lasted only a few weeks
K)njj;*-r, he was in oonunaiid of his h:ittalion.
iiuth Cieiiora! (Jfant and Gi^neial \le;iile Sj)oke in th--
hi}^-l)es.t terms of pi;'.ist> of theeliarge of the Sixth Corps
at Fetersbai<^ when tiie fla;^ of the 77th was the first
on the enemy'^i works. After this caaie the pui-suit of
.Lee, with the li;.>ht at Sailor's Creek, where the cor[r-.
luvptnred Gen. Fwed, ;ind enableil Gen. Cnster with
his eavahy to eaptnre }>etwecn thirty and forty
relx'l tl.igs. "Then on t(^ A]>[>i>inntto'c to see the snr-
render of Gen. Lee. Then the return to Washington
and th.e ^rand review by President Johnson, after
which the rejiiuu'r.t \va>: musteveil out of tho seivice oi"
iiisroiLY or wKSTJ'Oin' .t;iv»
the Uuitcd States. Fietutjung io Albaiiy, we (lelu-eieil
our torn b;Jtle iiapjs to the ;^overuor of the slate in tlic
preseuee of General Gr:int, July -Itli, 3.8G5, ancl ihey
may be seen in the C-ij^itol." Major Stevens adds:
'•This is only a part of the liistor^- of the battleri of the
legiment. Aceordinp^ to the compiler of th.e "History
of Xeu- York iu the Jlebellion," the 77th wa* engaged
jn fifty-two h.alt'l»?s and skirrnii--he^, and the sl.irhii>;hes
vere equal ioj&ny of tlie batf)e,=; of the Cuhun or Philip-
jiine wars,"
Of the original fifty ri:erp.bers of Company A whofir^t
left Westport, only three returned «ith the eompauy at
the expiration of nearly four 5'.ea.rs of service. These
three went out as privates and returned with eouitnis-
sions— Major C. R Stevens, Captain Charles A. Davis
and Lieutenant Sorel Tountain. Nearly all the rest
had beei?. killed in action, had died iu prison or hospi-
tal, or had l<een diseh-iji'ied oii account of disabilitv,
Tu-efity-tv/o of the eompauy now sleejj in southern eoil,
<;if;ht u'ho were killed in battle, and fourteen 's-ho ilieu
of dhseitse and starvation,
Tiie names of the Westport men u'ho belonged to
OoaJpi^U5• A vere as follows;
iJajor Cbaries Edsou Steveus. Weut uiit ^s a sertreaol,
iind upon tlae resiguattou of I^t. Faruswurth, Jan. i>, lb'(J"J,
ivas pi-oinoted 2ud Lieutouaut. In Decwnber UAlowin^^ he
wus api)oini(xMs!; Lifutcnajit of CompaiiV A. and Oct. ir>.
]>Uj-t, f'uptuin oL CoQjpany E. In Novejubei' the ihree
years' tcnu of service \oi' which ibc mcu of the 77tL bad
<-idi.«ited oypirod. aJid tLLwe^rinzeat v/as aj-.cordiut^dy luu.s-
lered out ot' service, buteuouv^b ui the veteraus rc-eultsted
lo foian a biiiruHoii of five cr)mpaii'u's '.\lii<b was called the
77rh Buf};jlii,'u Xe\y VuJ-k ^tjr- \'ij]ui:U-.-rs. svjih C. K.
.yJf! II I STORY OF WI'STl'ORT
Stov.'ns captain of Coiniviijy C, aud s;;oti afteruMfd (Jan.
]. ISC.")) uppi/nitod Major of the battalion. From April 2 to
May 1. ISi;."), Major Stevens was in conimaud of the battal-
ion. Major Sto\ ous was born in Woslport April 2t'>. ISM'.'.
the son of (Iiiy and .Mabol (Stoddard) Steveus. .Married
Jan. 10. 18(.4. to Kli/.a .M. Lyou, dau;/hter of Isaac and Lu-
i-inda (Holconibj Lyon, and had one sou. Harold. His
second wife was C'arri.;^ Richai'ds. dau<.rhter of James and
Sarah (Thotusou) Rietiards. and they have two dauijhters.
(ierti'ude aud Elizabeth. Major .Stevens is now keeper of
the lii^hthouse at Barber's Point.
Surijeoh (Jeorire' Thomas Stevens. Commissioned Sur-
treo'i of the the TTtli Oct. .•-!, 1S(U and mustered out Dee. 1.").
1S(>4. Oi)ei"atin<.' sui";jfeon for the division two aud a half
years, and for a titne medical iuspector of the Si.vth Army
Corps. lu ]S(;h he punlished a book called '"Three Years
in i()e Si.xth Army Corps." Di*. Stevens was born iu Jay.
X. Y. in l.sMi', s')U of the Rev. Chauucey and Luciuda
(Hoadley) Stmens. Yov tive years he was Profcssoi' of
physioloi^y and diseases of the eye in Unioa Colleoi'e, and
.-^iuee theu has ri^en hi^^h in his profession, writing many
staudai-d medical works ia both French aud English, and
behmi'ini,'- to the highest forei.trn scientific societies. He
is now as'pecialist in diseases of the eye in New York. His
wife wa.s Harriet Wadhams. (^n-aud-daui'-hter of Gen. r.,u-
man Wad hams.
Captain R<Hie! W. Arnold. Ii\ the service froni Septem-
ber. 18G1, to April 8. 1S(;2
Captain Charles .\. Davis. Went out as a cori>:>ral. al-
though only seventeen, aud was promoted 2nd LieutenanT
Oct. iij, 1S(U. 1st Eieurenaut of Company E. Nov. 1,"), IStU.
and Captain April 2"). l.si;.') He is the son of Alvin Davis.
Et. William [)oug!a.->s. In the service from September.
ISCl to April. lSt;2.
Lt. William F. r.,you. In December of 1862 promotid
froin C>rderly Sergeant to 2nd Eieuteuaut. Killed iu tfi-'
t'nfiny's works at S|iottsy Ivania. May 10, 1.S04. Son of
Isaiie D. Lyon, and brother-in-law of Majoi- Stevens.
2nd Lt. James H. Farnsworth. In the service from Sep-
ti-mber. 1>^(;1. to Jan. a. l^t;2.
Lt. Sorcl Fouutaiu. 2ud Lieutenant in the 77th Battal
ion. St'rved throughout the war.
Sergeant James E (lames. .Mustered in as a musician-.
\
nisTOL'Y OF WKSTroirr 527
liostma-^tf-r for the cotnv)any; lost a lej,' at IVteisbur^'.
JunoLM. l.*;i>i. Half biothor of Major Stovi'Ds. and first
keeper of tlje li;^ljthou»e at JJarbei's IViut.
SorLTeant Hiram IJarties. Wounded at Antiotnm. dis-
ibart;oil. re enlisted iu the P'ith X. Y. Taken prisoner, be
was iu Libby prison tivc weeks, and iu the stockade at
Salisbury. N. C six months. Cousin of Jain^s V. Ba.'-nes.
Jl.is a sou in tlie U. S. Navy.
Serjf-ant Rex A. IJavens' Killed May H. I'^lH, in the
l)attl.» of Cbancellursviile, at the crossiu;: ol the river.
S»u of Asaii. I F?av. Mis, a-iJ brother of Mrs. Wiili^on Dou*;-
iass.
iSer^'eaiil Flirani fJurt. Du-d o! wouckU n-ti-ived at the
o.ittle of ("ul.ir Cre.'k. Oot'»be>'. 1^'tU Son of Alvin Burt.
Corporal <Ieori:e (i. Allen. Ivilled at Spottsylvaaia. May,
1S»»4; son of Nathaniel All>'n.
Hira!n P.rst.us. Died Doc. 2-'). isci, at :\ieridian Hill.
Wiliiam C<»il. Died at Fortress Monroe. April li>. ISoJ.
son of Hinkley Coll.
Oeorire W. Bi:.'elo\v. Died in lield ljo?>pital. Voanij.-*'
Mills. Va.. April .HO. l!5»;2.
.lobn Ormsbv. Died in lield hospital in Youu^'s* Mills.
April 'j:i, istlii.'
Itichard Kleurv. Died in hospital in New York. .Mav .'>.
Frank Ilo-Niu^ton. Died i:i Doi)«^ias>. Hospitjl. W'a^h-
tii>/ton. .May 21. 1S»J2.
Dan \V. fsheiilon. Died at I/iberiy Hall buspitiil, .Mav
."<». ISiiJ. Wli'-n .MeClellan t<;ok possessum of ihe lountry
alon^' the Chiekah«*niMiy. near Itiohniond. the mansi<)n
called Lib»-rty liall. uhich bad been the b:.-lhpkic<' of Pal-
rick H^'iiry.ua-. turned info a hospilaN>y the L'nion troops,
.^r-n of V\,iU IJ. Sheldou and ;;raudsoo ol Capt. Je.s.se Diu-
fium.
Charles Faliuer. Died of an accid«Mita! wound in camp
•^\ l*aitiek Station. Va . Mareh IH. l.-<i;:».
Corpiiral .Janus A. Lawreiice. Losta lei^ al Petersbur*:,
.Till).' 21. i>-»;i.
.fohn Cross. WoiMided at ChaneeUorsv illo, Mav, IfXl
Hrnry .lames. Woanded at b'roderieksljiir;:. .^iay. lS(i:{.
Ch:.rle.-> Pierce. WounxJed iu tbe \VJ]derue.ss, May .'»,
J -'4.
..rJS II I STORY OF WEST I 'OUT
William I. (irt-jorv. Woumlr-d in tLi" Wil(LM-iu<ss. Mav
<i. lS(i-l.
Denuis Tlionias. Wouiidml in llu' Wildm-ness. .Mav tl.
i,S(i4.
f:ber N. AIUm). son of Xathaiiiol.
Corporal Cbauncey A. Baliou.
Thomas lien son.
Corporal James W. lii-jruill. Trausferr^-d to LT. S. Navy,
Ai.ril. ]8t;4. ^ , , .
Corpora] tVrancis Maroin (iill. ■ -^
Lorrin Cole, sun of Tillinvrliast. '' '^'•'•r."
Miebael Cuuloy.
Roswoll B. Diekeuson.
Georjje W. Doty.
Charles T-iood speed.
Rfvdolphus (iojds|>eed.
ilenry 11. .Merrill.
E/.ra -NJiner.
Lewis Odell.
Henry H. Riebards.
Clbed Riui,'er.
John H. Sawyei'. T<x^k small-pox in camp, and u'lis
s(;nt home eon valeseeut ; discbar;;ed at Albany. October "<.
1SG2.
Jaeob \ . vStfVensou.
Corporal David Striuj^'ham.
James Van OruLim.
'J'heOiie lliindi-etl and I 'iLilitctMilli.
Some single eiilistoients took ))lace iu the year follow-
ing, and then, Anji^nst 4, 18G2, came the call of the pres-
ident for three huudreil thousand additional troops.
Another company was at once raised in Elizabethtown.
with liobert \V. Iavii);j;st<^n as captain. This was
(Hjmpauy F. of the llStli X. Y. V., and iu it were seven-
teen \Vestj.x^it nion. The 118th was called "the "Adi-
rondack" and contained three companies from Essex
».t)a!itv. It was mustered into the sevvieo Auir. 2'J, and
V
J
HISTORY OF WKSTI'Oirr r,J.9
left Plattsburgli for the front Ocirly in September. The
secoud lientonaut of Company F. (promoted firrst lieu-
tenant the following year) was Williani Henry Steven-
son, son of Thomas Stevenson, a fanner who lived in
t!ie south part of the townshi]), so near the line that
Watson makes the mistake of sayiuj^that Lt. Stevenson
came frotn Moriah. A brother and three cousins were
also in the service, all going out from the same ueigli-
borhood.
The 118th was attached to the Army of the James,
and saw its first service in the defense of Saiiolk, Ya.
In June of ]S(U the brigade to which the rej^iment be-
longed was ordered to destroy parts of the liichmond
and Fredericksburg railroad, and had a sharp skirmish
with the enem}' near the South Anna river. It was at
this time that Lt. Stevenson captured a slight breast-
work wliich vvas obstinately maintained in the centre of
the skirmish line of the Goi> federates. He called for vol-
unteers, took the first five men who offered, made a
rapid tiank movement behind some bushes on the right,
and carried the breastwork with a rush. One of the
Confederates was killed, one wounded, and thirteen
others brought into the PVderal lines as prisoners.
This dashing exploit made Stevenson a hero at once,
and throughout his short career he was the pride of the
regiment.
In the spring of 18G4 Gen. B. F. Butler took com-
njaud of the Army of the James and co-operated with
Grant in his advance upon Kichmoud. The 118th was
in the '2ud brigade, 1st division, iSth corps. Early iu
S
550 HISTORY OF WESTJ'OUT
May Geii. Beauregard lield Fort Davliu^^ on tlie Jainos,
aiid Butler spent about six days, from the tenth to t]\e
sixteenth, in an unsuccessful attem]>t to dislodge him.
At thiee o'clock Monday morning, May 16, Beauregard
attacked Butler and drove him from the outer works
which he had captured. The 1.18th fell back fighting, tak-
ing sbclter as they could beliiud redoubts and traverses.
The tiring from the advancing Confederates was severe,
and Capt. Livingston c)-ossing an oj)en space between
two redoubts, was struck by a bullet in the shoulder,
and his meu saw him fall. Lt. Stevenson sprang from
the cover of an embankment and ran to his assistance,
followed by four men of the same company. In the
very act of stooping to lift Livingston from the ground,
Stevenson was struck dead by a shot from the enemy,
who were already upon them. Two of the men who
followed him were captured, and afterward died in
prison. 'Th.o other two succeeded in rescuing their
ciiptain, and carried him with them in the rest of the
retreat, althougli he was struck by another shot after
they had reached his side. The fate of Stevenson, so
gallant a sacrifice to loyalty and to duty, endeared him
to his comrades, and has made him conspicuous among
the military heroes of Westport. A monument to his
memory stands in the little cemetery at Mullein brook,
and upon the formation of the G. A. B. Post at Port
Henry, after the close of the war, his name was given
to it in commemoration of his bravery.
Butler's army fell back to Bormnda Humlred and
fortified. Soon afterv.ard th*-- 18th corps was taken iu
S
HISTORY OF WKSTl'O I! r r>31
transptn-ts; down tlio James river aiul up tlie J'*ainunky,
ami laiuled at tho White House, to join tho Army of
tiie Potomac iu tho campaifrri of (uaut against Ricli-
moiul. Here tlio men of the llSth. met those <>f the
77lli for tht; first time since tlie 77th lia<l left the wharf
at West[>ort, two years au.l ei<;'ht months before. From
tiie first of June to tiie twelfth there was constant fight-
ing, with two uiisticc-essful assaults upon the Confeder-
ate works. For eight days the two armies lay within
the range of each others' fire, the sharpshooters pick-
ing oft' many nion,--an ordeal as severe as anything
experieneeii by the llSth during the whole war. This
was the engagement at Coal Harbor, where the troops
were forced to lie flat on the ground to escape the in-
cessant fire of the enemy and the dead could not be re-
moved or buried, but were thrown upon the breast-
works, soon to form a nK)re dreadful menace to friend
than to foe. Trees in thei'ear of tlic troops uere stripped
of thuir b.irk and often cut entirely through by the mus-
ketry fire fr«Mn the Confederate ranks. On the loth of
•Tune the regiment took part in an assault upon Peters-
l)urg in which it sutFered severely. For two months it
lay before Petersburg, almost constantly under fire, and
July 29 it stood drawn up in line waiting for the ex-
]3!osion of the great mine which the Union troops had
been so long preparing for the destruction of the Con-
federate works. The mine was sprung with terrible
effect, but the Confederate defense was still so determ-
ined that the llSth was not ordered to the charge.
From August 27 to September 27 the regiment was
V
532 HISTORY OF WKSTl^ORT
in camp upon tho soutli bauk of tlio Jaaif^s, and at this
tioie tho OGtli, to which some AVestport men belonged,
was attached to the same brigade — the second. Then
came the assault and capture of Fort Harrison, or Bat-
tery Harrison, on the nortli side of the Ja'.nes, one of
the outer works of tho cily of jlichmonil. At three
o'clock on the morning of September 20 the division
crossed tlie James on a pontoon bridge, witli the second
brigade in the advance. The fort which tliey were to
attack hiy aboafc three miles up the river. Two ojiles
of this distance lay tlirough -woods which were full of
the enemy's pickets, and then they came to an open
space which was commanded b}- the guns of the Con-
federate batteries. The attacking column was formed
by the 96th New York and the Sth Connecticut,
supported by the First and Third brigades of the divi-
sion. The llSlh New York and the lOtli New Hamp-
shire were throvu out as skirmishers on either flank,
the 10th New Hampshire on the loft and the 118th on
tlie right. Both of these flanking regiments had just
been armed witli the new Spencer rilie, at that time the
most perfect fire-arm known, and one which required
skillful and resolute marksmen to bring out its best
work. "While the central column advanced to the at-
tack, carrying the enemy's works in one grand rush, in
the face of a furious fire of bullet, shot and shell, the
llSth on the right put in tlieir ^\ork demoralizing tlie
defense, picking off the gunners at their i)osts, and
pouring in a discriminating fire upon the Confederate
troops under which tiiey faltered and ran. The Union
\
Ill STORY OF WKSTPOirr 533
liieu swarmed over tho embaukmeut ami into tlio fort,
the t'vo re^imeut^ in the ceutre plauting tlieir colors at
the same time, and turning the guus of the batteries
upon the fleeiujj^ foe. At the same time the llSth came
in on the ri<^ht, am.] tho tirst two men who leaped into
the red'.^ubt and tr;iined tlie gims to fire upon the re-
treat were Nelson J. Gibbs, one of our own men, born
under tli«; shadow of Coon mountain, and Henry J.
Ada,ms, an Elizabethtown man. In Gen. Butler's ad-
dress to the army of tho James, a few weeks later, the
name of Lieutciiiint Gibbs i>; mentioned first in the otii-
cial c'ocnmendation which the incident received.
Mr. Gibbs at this time held the rank of 2nd Lieuten-
ant of Company 1, soon afterward made first Lieuten-
ant. The words of the address of Major-General But-
ler, dated at "Headquarters,, Department of Virginia
and North Carolimi, Army of the James, before Rich-
mond, Oct. 11, ISfVj," are these:
"Lieut«. N. J. Gibbs and H. J. Adams of the same
regiment, the first men in the ledoubts, are commended
for their ))r3sence of mind in turning the enem3''s gnns
to bear upon them. They are respectfully recommended
to His Excellency t!je Governor of New York for pro-
motion." This recommendation, in the case of Lt.
Gibbs, resulted in his receiving a brevet commission as
Captain, "for gallant conduct at the attack on Fort
Harrison, Sept. 29, 1SG4," signed by Reuben E. Fenton,
Governor. That is the kind of a commission vn Inch it
is very gratifying to receive, and the native town of the
recipient immediately took the honor to itself. AVhen
\
534 HISTORY OF WIJSTrORT
tho accouiil of the taking of Fort Ilariison came out iu
tl.e nowspppors, a number of our principal citizens
started a subscription paper which bore tlie signatures
of about twenty men, the first being tliat of the Hon.
George AV. Gofl", then the owner of the Jacksonville
property, who had a son i]i tlie service himself. A
handsome silver-mounted revolver was purchased and
presented to Captain Gibbs upon his return, as an ac-
knowledgment from his fellowtownsmen of tlie distinc-
tion which had been conferred upon Westpovt through
him. He was then twenty-two years of age.
The Westport men io Cajttaiii Livingston's ccmpany
were :
Captain Nelson J. Gibbs. Sou of Merrill and Abigail
Gibbs. Married first, Theresa, daughter of Aaron Clal-k ;
second, Jennie, daughter of James Kicbards.
Lt. William H. Stevenson. Killed Mav Itl. 1SH4. Son
of Thomas Stevenson.
John Flinn. Killed iu action ; brother of Jerrv and
Michael Flinn.
Nev.-ton Merrill. Died at Gloucester Point. N'a.isonof
Noel Merrill.
George Wright. Died in F. S. hospital, St. Dennis, Md. :
sou of Flij;ih 'Wri^.^ht.
William L. Fri.sbie. Died in hospital near Relay House,
Md., Feb. F). lSf;3,aged twenty. Son of Levi Frisbie, and
irrandson of Ca})t. Levi Frisbie.
f^gbert Braman. Son of Jason, and grandson of Capt.
Jc.s.se Brainau; afterward entered the ministrv of the M.
E. church.
John Ormi.ston. Died at Youn<,''s Mill.s, \'a,. MavL ]8i;2.
^ Henry Welch. Was brought home sick by his father,
Fleazar Welcli, and died upoo the wharf at Westport im-
meuiatelv after landing from t!)2 steumboat.
William Ringer.
Adolph James.
I>ambert Cros.s.
Alviu T. Rurt.
\
ijJSTOh'v OF wijsrrn/n' /iSo
Yia!/a Roberts, of Lou-is. Aflorv/ard praclicecl modiciuo
iu West port.
Ilirani Lainpmaa.
Joseph fkirdy.
Henry Southard.
Cotiaot Sawyer. Could not pass the mcdioal exaniiua.
tion necessary to cnhstmeut, for the rcasoii that he was
totally blind iu cue eye, ris the result of an accident in boy^
hood. Knowino; this, he applied to Captain Livin^^stou iu
person, and be^rged so bard to be allowed to <^o with the
company that the captain took hira, j^ivlng him the task of
caring for his horse, and other duties about his person.
One of his brothers had been already killed, and two oth.
firs were in the service,
"J'he Ninet^'-Six^tli New York,
There were uiue Westport nioa iu thi.s regiment at
different times.
Sergeant Austin Braisted, Co. K. Sou of Darius
Braisted,
Sergeant Hiram Barnes. Re-eulisted iu the 9Gth
afte)" haviuo- been discharged from the 77th on account
of wounds received at Autietam. Captured, iu Libby
prisou five weeks, iu Salisbury stockade, sis months.
Silas W. l^'liun, sou of Jerry Fiiuu. Died iu Salis-
bury stockade.
Leouidas Barnes. Brother of Hiram.
Fred Matthews.
John Tucker.
Zemmett Couchey.
Kobert Tyler, Co. C.
Dr. Piatt 11. H. Sawyer was hospital steward in the
42ud N. Y., was promoted to assistant surgeon in the
1-J2nd X. y., ;iud then full suri.'eon in the 9Gtl) N. Y.
\
.5Jff HISTORY OF WEST PORT
Other Ile^Lnients.
There were two Westport men iu Conipauy F, 99th
U. S. lufantry, Hosea Sayre, who died at Braudy Sta-
tion, Va., April 28, ISG-i, and Ed. Sweatt. '
Other men in infantry regiments were :
Frank Whipple, corporal in Co. E, 12th N. Y.
Henry Bromley, 14th N. Y.
Walter GofT, .sou of George W. Goff, belonged to the
4:4.th, or the "Ellsworth Avengers."
Robert Hooper, enlisted at Ogdeusburgh in the 105th
N. Y.
Ed. Ftoss, 121st N. Y.
Some of our men enlisted in other states. Daniel F.
Payne enlisted in Burlington, A't., Sept. 1801, in the
5th Vermont Volunteers; was wounded at Savage Sta-
tion June 29, 1862, losing his right arm and receiving
injuries in the head ; left behind in the retreat of Mc-
Clellan, he was a prisoner in Eichmond four weeks, was
then exchanged and sent to the hospital in Philadel-
phia ; served to Sept. 1862.
Charles P. Sheldon, son of Piatt Pt. Sheldon, enlisted
from his home in Iowa. William Welch and Edwin
Barnes also enlisted in Iowa. Peter llinger went out
from California, and was killed iu the service. Zenas
Clark went from Maine, Ed. Holcombfrom New Hamp-
shire, and Joseph Estey from Vermont. Edward -Os-
borne was in the 17th Vermont Vokinteers, which was
the last regiment raised in Vermont. It was mustered
iu Oct. 17, 1861, fought at Petersburg!!, pursued Lee's
HI STORY OF WEST PORT 'o.i?
army until its sun-eialer, aiul w;is nuiBtered out July
•22, 1865.
Alviu Farr was in the ITtli Miohi<::;an, and Lewis
Potter in the 21st Wisconsio, the latter badly wouuded
in the battle of Lookout Mountain.
Samuel K. Dunster was hospital steward in the 2ith
Massachusetts.
Dr. Wiliiarn H. Richardson was a volunteer surf];eon
in the Arujy of the Potomac after the battles of the
SVilderness in ISGL He was stmt to the Assembly the
same year.
Some names have been f^iven me which I have been
unable to assif^u to the proper regiment :
Augustus Averj-, Silas Allen, Darwin Buck, Henry
Counter, October Counter, John Decker, James Fee.
William Harper, John McConley, Dan McCouley, James
MoGray, Felix McMaonus, Lewis Ilaymond, Charles
Shambo, llobert Slaughter, Ptichard \Tiuter (belonged
to a Zouave regiment), aud Charles Young.
Benoui T. West is buried here, but probably enlisted
from North Hudson.
Cavali-y Iveyrinieiits.
We had thirty-sis; men iu the cavalry arm of the serv-
ice, fourteen belonging to the Second New York Veteran
Volunteer Cavalry, a regiment which saw most of its
service in the western camjiaigus.
Allen Talbot Co. D.
Joseph Sunn.
Levi Harris.
Oscjxr Phinney, enlisted Sept., ISGI), in Co. E.
j.-M' msTouY OF wTsn'oirr
Josiali Strattou, Co. 11 • •'"
William Floyd, sou of Xian^om,
Etlwftrd Harper. ■ '
Edward Harper; Jr. '^
Silas Frazier, ; . ■ •' ••
l^auiel JaQies. • '
Johu E. Gro^^or} . ' ••
xVlexis Sarswoll,
Robert StovensoQ. Brotlior of Lieut. Stevenson <i
the llStU.
Carl vie H, Toj'ranoe, Co. L, .served from Feb. 18C-ltci
Nov. 3SG.J. J] 6 now has a son in the Piiilii^june war.
Nine were in tlie Eleventh New York Cavalry, oi
"Scott's Nine Hundred." Tiiij; regiment went iro'.n
^Yashiugton to New Orleans, and took part in the ope-
rations ou the M,issist.sippi, then went eastward through
Tennessee and made a junctioii with Sheruian's ai-niy,
after it had gone "Marching through Ge<ngia."
James E. Paiten, Co. C.
Edwin Jriwrcnce, Co. C.
Leslie Smith, Co. C.
Solomon Deyo, Co. 1.
Alexis Brothers, Co. I.
Cassins Joubert, Co. I. Died in Batoii li(<uge» L:i.>
Oct. 27, 1S61, of typhoid fever, at the ag>' of nineteen.
]ii-other of Napoleon J(jubeit.
H. L. Degro'ti".
Benjamin Albert livrre>tt. The marble-cutter ;it
Wjidhams who cut the name of John Bi'owu upon th'-
auoieut tombstone a.t Nortli I'j.ba.
HISTORY OF WESrrORT 530
Oliver Dana Barrett, liis hrothor, a graduate of
tlio University of Venuout. Itaiscd a battalion in
"Scott's Nine Hinidred." Practiced law in Washing-
ton from 1SG7 until his death in 1901, being the lav/
])artner of Gen. 13. F. Butler and executor of his e:->tate.
We had seven wen in the Second >Jev\- York Cavahy,
called the "Harris Inght Brigade," naajed after
Senator Ira tTarris of Alban}'. Tiiis regimeiit belonged
to the Army of the]-*otoniac, and when the monument to
its memory was erected on the field of Gettysburg, one
of the speakers said of it : "The story of the marches,
raids, skirmishes and fights of this regiment from the
Potomac to the Fiappahaunock, from the Rappahan-
n(X;k to the Eapidan, from the Kapidan to Gettysburg
back through the valley of Tirgiuia to Appomattox, is
best told by the traces of bullets upon its battle flags."
Our men were :
Julius Blongy.
Culbert Matthews.
Lafayette Lasher.
A. C. Const^antiue.
Charles Constantiue, his son.
Elbert M. Johnson.
Chauucey Hodgkins.
Five men joined Company IT of the Fifth New York
Cavalry. This comjiany was raised in Crown Point \i\
Captain John Hamnumd, afterward Colonel of the reg-
iment and brevet Brigadier-General, in the summer of
1801. The company was mounted lapon one hundred
.-'.nd ci^'dit horses, njan^- of M-hich v ei'e puiclui^i d in
V
54(t jfisTonr OF wh'STj'(jjrf
Westport. Col. HaiDinond hiiuaclf roilo a "West port
horse. The ref^'imciit was orj^^-iuiztLl with one thc-nsHU.]
uuil sixty-four uiouiited men, and i\l the eiicl of the w;ir
only seven of tlie original horses still remained.
The Fifth New York Cavalry had a brilliant career
in ^'ii-^inia and in the Shenandoah valley, where it was
coinniandovl by Gt;ns. Wilson and Custer. There it
fought in the line next the 7 7th New York Infantry. At
Gettj-sbuigh, uj)on July 3, it stood u]»on the extreme
left, supporting Elder's Battery, and made a gallant
charge at t-he base of Big Hound Top. Its rnouuuieni
upon that battle-lield bears a beautitul bas-relief of a
cavalryman upon hi.-s horse, arid the legend, "oth X. Y.
Cavalry, 1st Brig. 3rd Div. Cavahj' Cori)s.*' Watson
says : "By an auspici(jus fortune the Tifth had fougljt
at Hanover. Pa., the iirst battle on free soil ; it was the
first XTnion regiment that crossed the Ibipidan in Grant's
oauipajgn ; it reeeived the ii>st shoek at the battle of
the \\'iJ,de)'ness, and was the last to leave the iiehl."
John G. Viall was appointed Second Lieutenant oi'
Company H in December of 1861, First Lieutenant iu
Se]>tember of 1SG2, and Captain in April of ISOI. His
father, William ^'iall, and his grandfather, John Gree-
ley, had both seen service in the war of 1812, and his
great-grandfather, John Greeley, fought as a boy ?.t the
battle of Bunker Hill.
Other Westport men in Company H were Abram
Sherman, DeWitt tloopeVj Thomas Rosa aud Andrew
J. Daniels.
V
IIISTOllY OF W/:ST/'0,\'T 541
Xu}^oleon Joabert belonged to the Fourlli New Y6)-k
Caviilry.
"William Shernum, biutber ot Al)rain, sorveil upon
the poiniisuJa before Yoiltowu ia the 10th Michigan
Laucers.
Col. Fi'aiicir- T_j. Lee.
There is a book iu the villa^^e lil)rary called "The
lieeord of the Service of th.; l'\): ty-fourlh ]\Iassachu-
setts Yolunteor 3I)litia in Xorth Carolina, August 18G2
to May 1S03." It is dedicated "To the Memory of our
Commander, Comrade and Friend, Colonel Francis L.
Lee," stating the fact that Col. Lee died while tlie book
was passing through the press. From these ])ages the
following facts have been gatliered.
Mr. Lee had been for years a member of the New
England Guards, ?. military organization of Boston
whicli was founded during the war of 1812, and which
♦MKlureil until September ISG'2, when it was merged into
thu Forty-foai th ^Massachusetts. When Presideut Lin-
coln issued the call f*)r three l.uindred tliousand troops
for nine mouths, August 4, 1862, Mr. Lee was at home
with his famil}- at Stony Sides. When he read the news
of the PresideiU's call iu the pa])ers, he started immedi-
ately for Boston, which he reached on the evening of
August 7, going at once to the.armory where the Fourth
Battalion were assembled. As he entered, the men
were bigcjing the roll fnr the new regiment, in the midst
of cheers and enthusiasm. Mr. Leo was then Major,
l>ut soon afterward receive.l his commission as colonel
(-1 the regiuitMit, and on .iugust 29 they w<-v\ ^vA'-^ ci'iuj)
s
.5-/2 JlhSTOKY OF WLST/'Oh'T
at lieadville, near Boston, where tney reinaincLl until
they were t^rdered to the front Octobtn- 23. We quoto
the "liecorcl :"
"Whfiu we wont to JieaJvillc, Colonel Lee was plaee<l
iu command of canip, witli military jarisdictiou over a
territorial radius of one mile. Although neither of our
field officers believed in the piinciple of total absti-
nence, they realized the evil influence caused by undue-
indulgence in intoxicating drinks, and for- this reason,
as well as to set an example to the men under tlicir
command, they mutuallj' resolved not to taste any winv'>
or ardent s]-)irits while the}' were iu the service of the
United States, a resolution to which they scrupulously
adhered. Colonel Lee in particular felt very strongly
about this matter, and waged a relentless war against
'traffickers in the ardent' v;ho attempted to establish
booths near our camp,"
A largo pioportion of the Forty-fourt]! were Ijostnn
clerks, and there were seventy- live Jlarviird students in
the regiment. Camp life was enlivened by concerts of
classical music, and at one time a whole oj)era was com-
posed and rendered by some of the soldiers for
the entertainment of the rest. Their attention
to their appearance on parade gave theni the nam-^^
of the "kid glove regiment," but it was acknowledged
that there was the same thoroughness about their fight-
ing. The Forty-fourth was assingned to the 2nd bri-
gade, 4th division, IStli Army Corps, Department of
North Carolina, and its chief service was iu the ojje-
rati(ms aUnit New Ijerno and WashiuL'ton, N. C. Their
s
i/iST()/n' OF whSTroirr 54:i
banner Iteavs tlie uames of '•Kinston, Wliituhall, CroKli=-
boro, Dec. 1SG2," and "Washington, April, 1803." It
.vas after this engagement of Washington, X. C, (oaHetl
"Little Wnshingtou") that it was reported in the ]-)a-
jiers that CoL Lee had been killed. Not the least in-
teresting page of the "Record" is tliat which cordains
portraits of the field and stalV oiiieers of the Forty-
fnurtii, with the -familiar tigure of Colonel Lee in the
centre, iu his nniform, with sash and sword am:! mili-
tary cap. Tlie regiment wds mustered out Juno IS,
18(33.
Two men bcn'u in Westport attained to the rank of
13rigadier-General after removing to other places. One
;vas John Tyler Cutting, half-ln-othei' of Dr. Sewall
S. Cutting, who served iu the civil war from the state
of Califfnuia, and was for nine years connected with
the National Guard of Califcn-nia as Lieutenant, jLajor,
Colonel and Brigadier-General.
The otlipr was Alonzo Alden, born at Wadharas Mills,
July 18, 'Ib'SL His fidher was Isaac AlJeu, a descend-
ant of John Alden of the Mayflower. Alonzo Alden
graduated from Williams College in 1S50 and entered
the law ot^ce of Gale iV: Alden of Troy. In 18G1 he re-
ceived a commission as Lieut.-Colouel of thelC9th N.Y.
V. He led the charge of the regiment at Coal Harbor,
A'a., and was the first to stand on the works of tlie
enemy, himself jilanting upon the redoubt the colors
which he had snatched from the hand of the color
bearer as he fell, shi.t dead. Lt. Col. Aldc-n was at this
time uo!;uJi,ii in tlnr head, but alter two nioiith.-. at
.-H/ III STORY OF wKsrroirr
home he retniueil to datv, this tiaie as C'oluuel. Hf-
led the IG'.Hh at Fort Fislier, ami wXmw tlie fort was
captured was phiced in command of it. Tlie enemy ex-
ploded a mine beneath the fort, and Cohmel xVUlen witli
a hundred of liis men was blown thirty feet in the air.
From tht- injuries received at that time he never recov-
ered, and in recoguitiun of hi.s bravery was brevettcil
Brigadier.-Gtmural. The remainder of liis life was spent
in Troy, where he held the oflice of pustmaster froij-;
186G to 1874.
A list of the daughters of Westport who liave marricl
military men w<jnld be interesting, l;>ut liHid to njake
complete. Tlie husband of Emeline \\"adiiaras, John
E. Burton, was C;iptain of the 11th X. Y. independent
Battery, Lij^ht Artillery, U. 8. Y., and was brevetted
Major. I'he first husband of Frances Wad hams, Geort^e
D. Davenport, was Captaiti of Co. B, 5th Yt. Yuls.,and
was killed in action at the Battle of tlie Wilderness.
May 5, lo(?l. Her second husband, El)ene/er J. Orms-
bee, was Captain of Co. G, lith Yt. Yoh., and after-
ward Governor of the state of Yeru)ont.
The record of Captain Albion Yarette Wadhams, l\
S. X., is as follows : Appointed midshipman in the
V . S. Navy, Sept. 24, ISHl; graduated from the Naval
Academy in ISHS, promcjted to Ensign A])ril 10, ISlJO ;
to Master July 12, 1S70 ; to Lieutenant March 25, 187").
to Lieut. Commander July 21, 1S04, to Commander
March 3, 1800, to Captain Dec. 27, 1904. The naval
history of C:iptain Wadhams presents manv picturesiph^
det^iils oi St rvii-e on ilU uu.r f'-xci-iA a.ud Uoaio statiu.i;--.
s
IIJSTOUY OF WKSTPOh'T .Uo
with prosftutations at courts aud participation iu iiiauy
a sharp, fight. Duriug the Spanish war ho whs iu
command of the patrol of our coast from Mobile to
Mexico. Iu 1803 he bof,'au lecturin*.; upon his experi-
ences in the navy, and has become famous as a public
speaker. He makes his summer home at Wadhams
Mills, aud will sometimes entertain the people there
who remea)ber him as a boy with one of the lectures
wliich he has delivered to lai'>^e audiences all over the
United States.
Albion James Wadhams, sv)n of Captain Wadhams,
entered the U. S. Naval Acadeuiy at Annapolis Sept. 4,
1891 ; Giradnated and was commissioned Ensign July 1,
1897, and Lieutenant, Junior Grade, July 1, I'JOO, lie-
si;!ned May 5, IDOl.
Tho W«^i-lv of 111*- Women.
And what part did onr women take in the war, be-
sides the involant!?,ry role of waiting and weeping at
home, with the whole interest of existence centered in
the news from the front? We are fortunate iu that
this question can be fully answered, so far as details go,
by the records of the Soldiers' Eelief Society which was
formed as soon as Company A had left for Saratoga.
November '23, ISOi, is the first date in the little manu-
script book which is still preserved by the secretary' of
the society, and which has W-en kindly lent to the wri-
ter. The constitution is written out iu full and the ob-
ject of "The Ladies* Soldier's Jlc'ief Society of West-
5^0 HISTORY OF V.'ESTPOllT
port" tliiis dofJncJ : "To meot the present enieroency,
aud respond tr tho call of the ^overnmeut for aid in re-
lieving the wants of the sick and wounded in our army,
aud also to supply those who may need suitable cloth-
ing to make them comfortable." This was womanly
work indeed, aud it is plaiu that the society was faith-
ful to its calling. The names of fifty women, and
■ twenty-one njeii a.-; honorary members, aic vvritten in
the little book. Time goes so fast, and we liave every
reason to believe that it will go no moie slowly after
this book is printed than it has gone before, that I have
added notes of explanation after each name, so far as I
was able, so that after another fifty years these women
may have yet some slight token of remembrance for thf
generation to whom they will bo great-grandmothers.
Every woman in her native town has (if she marries)
two distinct names, her own, and her husband's. I have
given both- tliese names whenever I could.
Mrs. Yv'illiam Kichards (Mary Ann Henderson). Her
son Henry was in Co. A.
Mrs, Freeborn H. Page (Phebe Ann Yiall). A brother
in the Fifth X. Y. Cavalry.
Mrs. ^Yilliam Frisbie (Mary Orr.).
Mrs. Piatt Sheldon (Aseuath Braman). Two son? in
the service, one killed.
Mrs. Henry Eddy (Marietta Hickok).
Mrs. Barton B. Richards (Aln^ira Newell).
Mrs. AVm. Harris (Jane Piachel Kent).
]Mrs. T. W. Harwood, wife of the Methodist minister.
HISTORY OF WrSrrORT r,47
]Mis. Harry J. Persons (Maria Holcomb;. A sou who
died iu hospital.
3Irs. Abiathar Pollard (Hauiiali Douglass).
Mrs. Eeuben AThallou (Helen Mary Douglass).
Mrs. Harriet M. Todd (the village milliner).
Mrs. L. Edgorton (Lucetta Lovehmd). • .
Mrs. Willard 3 ugalls (Elizabeth Greeley).
Mrs. Pialph A..Loveland, (Harriet Kent).
Mrs. Victor Spencer (Augusta Kent).
Mrs. Aaron P>. Mack (Jane Mclvinuey).
Mrs. Edmund J. Smith (Emma Larrabee).
Mrs. William Wadhams (Emeline Cole).
Mrs. Joseph Williams (Elizabeth Sheldon).
Mrs. Guy Stevens (Mabel Stoddard). Tivo sous iu
the 77th.
Mrs. Isaac Lyon (Lucinda Holcomb). Her son AV'il-
liam was killed in Virginia.
Mi's. Wm. H. Piichardson (Elizabeth Spencer.)
Mrs. Miles MT. Sawyer (Caroline Halstead). Eour
sou.'i it} the war, one killed.
Mrs. J. Nelson Barton (Pliebe Maria Sawyer, her
daughter.)
Mvs. William Davis.
Mrs. Albert P. Cole (Julia Hickok).
Mrs. S. Mclntyre.
Mrs. Elijah Newell (Harriet Baker). Two sons in
the Confederate service.
Mrs. Harriette Young. A son in the army-
Mrs. Alviu Davis. Son in the 77th.
Mrs. Saniuel Boot (Cynthia Fisher).
o4S HISTORY OF WE ST FORT
Mrs. Ti. OJell.
Mrs. Grililn.
Mrs. C. B. Hatch (:\rargaretta Winans).
Mrs. Potter.
Mrs. Tatro (Imsbaud iu the 77tli).
Mrs. Jerry FUdii. Her son Silas died in Salisbury,
X. C. '
Mrs. Capt. Arnold (Marion Barberj.
Mrs. A. X. Grecloy.
Mrs. M. L. Dauiels.
■ Miss Susan A. Roberts.
Miss M. A. Sheldon.
jNliss A. Heath.
Miss H. Holcomb.
Miss Eliza M. Lyon, who afterward married Major
C. E. Stevens.
Miss M. ^L Holcomb.
Miss Clara Spencer, a litfle girl six or .seven years
old.
Miss Ann Gibl;>s, sister of Captain Gibbs.
llorior-am^ ^Nleinbei-.s.
Barton B. Biichards, John J. Greeley, C H. Eddy,
Victor Spencer, Aaron B. Mack, Ilev. Mr. Harwood, of
the M. E. church, Orren Howard, Freeborn H. Page,
William Frisbie, Wm. H. Richardson, M. D., Lewis
Roe, D. L. Allen, L. B. Newell, just beginning his first
.school in Westport, William Richards, J. W. Eddy,
William Merriam, Walter Douglass. Wallace Olds,
Jerry Fliuu, Samuel Root, Henry Warren.
The articles collected and c-onipletod r* Kly for pack-
]ll STORY OF W J : ST PORT r>40
iiig at the fourth meeting of tlio society, Doc. IS, lSf)l,
were as foHows : 4:2 comfoitaMes, 32 pillows and cases,
16 hospital shirts, 3 clressitij:; p;o\vns, 4G white; linen
towels, 22 brown tcnvels, 50 pair mittens, 12 pair socks,
2 knit caps, 10 pocket haoclkercliiefs, a large quantity
of lint and bandages^ a large ainouijt and variety of
dried fruit, 1 chi^ose, 1 vol. military tactics, some other
books and pap(,'rs. This list represouis a great many
stitches taken by women's hands in a month's time, for
not one article was factory made, and there was hardly
a sewing machine in town, — indeed, I doubt if theie
was a single one. The record goes on : "Several gen-
tlemen volunteo'ed to assist in procuring boxes, mark-
ing, packing, etc. Mr. William Trisbie and Mr. Jerry
Flinn both volunteered to carry the boxes to the ex-
press office in Vcrgennes, and Mr. Peter Ferris offered
to ferry them across tlie hdce free of charge. The two
boxes were consigried to the care of Mr. Frisbie who
cari'ied them to Yergennes Monday morning, ]3ec. 23,
18<j1, and returned a receipt from the express office for
the same. Collected sll.50 to pay the express charges
from Yergennes to Washington. The boxes were re-
ceived in good order by Co A, TTtli lleg't N. Y. S. A ..,
to. v.'hom they were sent. After they were opened, the
company at their evening dress parade gave nine hearty
cheers for the Ladies of Westport, which were taken
up and repeated by every company in the regiment.
Many letters were written home by various members of
the company overflowing with tluuiks, and stating that
the gifts were ;vp[>reciatod iis only ^uldiers upon the
■^■^0 fU^iTOnV OF WESTlVjRT
tented tioKl could a])prcciate sucli favors from friends
at Lome."
The furtbcr records of this society, being probably
kept upon loose sheets, have been lost, but their meet^
lugs and their work were continued. After three years
the society was reorganized. It is well-known that the
National Sanitary Commission was not thoroughly or-
ganized for ihA, gigantic task of supplying the needs of
our soldiers in camp and on the battle field until the
last years of the war. The Secretary's book begins :
"According to previous notice the patriotic^Ladies
and Gentlemen of ^Vestport convened in the Methodist
church August 15, ISCh Mr. William Frisbie was
called to the chair. C. H. Xash (the Baptist minister)
elected secretary pro tem. After listening to interesting
remarks from gentlemen present, the meeting }.roceeded
to organize a Ladies' Society by electing tlic following
ofiicers :
Mrs. Kalph A. Lovcland, President.
Mrs. F. H. Page, Yice-President.
Mrs. William Piehards, Secretary.
Mrs. William Frisbie, Treasurer.""
Dircrfres.st!^.
Mrs. William Harris.
Mrs. I). L. Allen (Clara Page).
Mrs. A. M. Olds.
Mrs. James Allen (Mary Cole).
Mrs. Mabel Stevens.
Mrs Gold (wife of the Methodist minister).
Mrs. Ilurrv Col.,'.
1
ifisTORY OF wj-STPoirr rj,n
Mrs. Piatt Shekloji.
Mrs. Heury E. ^Yarre^l (Mii;a i^risbie). , .
Mrs. Samuel Root.
Miss Kate Alleu (two brotlior^j iu the war).
Mis8 Delia Frislijo.
The Dames fouud iu the list of members are, iiluiost
without exceptioii, the same as those of the ori^y'ual bo-
i'iety, Avitli these added : .
Mrs. Cephas Bradley. . ;
3Irs. Noel Merrill (Pamela Cole). She hud two sons
and a brother in the army.
■ Mrs. Pieuben Tugalls (Mandaua Holt).
Mrs. James Barnes (her husband in the armv).
Mrs. C. E. Stevens (Eliza Lyon, married siiice the
orj^anization of the first sorictv),
Mrs. Warren Pooler.
Mrs. H.Colo.
.Mrs. Gibbs.
Mrs. Albert Carpenter (Mary Sheldon).
Mrs. E. B. Xeweli (Sarah Pnrmort).
Mrs. Braisted.
Mrs, Alexander Stevenson.
Mrs. Ransom Floyd (Julia Alien, of Pantou;.
Mrs. Andrew Frisbie.
31 rs. William Douglass (Marian Havens)
Mrs. M. Howard.
!Mrs. Angier.
3Irs. INI. Hoisiugton.
Mrs. Stephen Wright (wife of the Baptist minister).
3Irs, StiutcvuiU.
/T.ii> insToin' OF \vi:sTP(}]n-
Misses Altniia Grecli'v, S.irali Lyon, ]-^i-aucc-s Love-
];uu1, Libbio Lovelaiul, Clara SpeDcer, Franc-r^s liicb-
ards, Lillian C. Ricliaras, H. Stnrtevant, C. Harris,
Louise Okls, Louiso Dornian, Louise Allen, AlzoaEoecl,
Carrie AVright, Nona Gold, Juliette Gold, Martha
Young, Tiseresa Clark, Jennie Cole, Louise Cole, Helen
Burt.
Additional honorary members : Eev. Mr. Gold, Eev.
C. H. Nash, Aaron Clark, Douglass Low, Henry H.
Richards, John H. Sawyer, Albert P. Cole, Erastus
Loveland, AVilliam Har)'is, E. Erap-ier, A. M. Olds,
Orange Gibbs, Isaac D. Lyon, M. D. Howard, H. 1).
Howard, Peter Ferris, Charles H. Pattisou, William J.
Cole, Laurens "White, Peter Bacon, Eeuben Ingalls, G.
W. Stranahan, Lorenzo Gibbs, John Osborne, O. Ben-
nett, Frank H. Eddy, Percival P. Hatch, Charles W.
Low, J. H. Dorman, Mr. .Mitcljcll, A. Viall, L. Avery, A.
Stringhnt.u.
The name of the new society was "The Ladies' Sol-
diers Eelief Socie'ty Auxiliary to the Christian Commis-
sion of the United States " It was addressed once oj-
twice by speakers sent out by the Ciiristian Commis-
sion from its headquarters at Philadelphia, and it was
to Philadelphia that the boxes of supplies were sent.
The committee iov drafting the constitution of the so-
ciety consisted of Mrs. Gold, Mrs. Ealpli Loveland, Mrs.
William Eichards and Mrs. Victor Spencer, with the
iLev. Mr. Gold and ^Iv. L. B. Newell. The committee
appointed to pack and forw aid the first boxes of supplies
was :\rrs. F. H. Page, 3Irr^. V. Silencer and Mrs. C. E.
iiisroin' or \vi:srrnirr r>r.:i
Stevens. "On motion Mossr.-^. );. 11. Ki<-Ii;inl.s nnd V.W.
Pui^'C; ^\\ vo invitijd to assist tiio coniinittee by fui)iisli-
inu; boxes, ni;n'kin<^, ete., wliicli iissistance was c-lu'.er-
fully rendered." Four bt^xes wore fiu waidrd Sept. 1,
ISGl, and two afterward, eontainiui^' articles similar to
those in the iirst which uere st-nt, with sonic addition-;,
especially currant wine and blackl)erry cordial. One
day all the youii;'; jv^oph- of the villa,L;'e went into the
l)ack part of the town to pick' Idackbt- rries which were
jnaile into cordial and sent to the sohlier-^. On Octo-
ber 21 a festival avus lield in the liaseincnt of the M. E.
(diurch at winch t!ie ladies served ice-creatn, c ike and
j)nit. The tw(-) yonnj:^ ladies appointed to solicit con-
tributions wi^re Frances Loveland and l'"iances llich-
ards. At the festival sn4.2o was raised, and nIOO.OO
innnediately sent to the Christian Coininission. In
about two months the society raised iJlTti.O.j. besides
the su]'plies sent in six boxes. Once a piece of sheet-
inj^ containin|.; thirty-eight yards was puicliased "to
Make into gariniints for hospital purposes," and the
bill was s21.t)(), nndiing the price of cotton cloth at that
time a little over Hfty-.five cents a yanl, t!ie t]nality
proba'uly no bettei- than that for wliicli ue now pay
seven cents. At <Mie time one hundred })ounds of ihied
fruit and eight ;j;allojis of Idackberry cordial and currant
wine wore sent t^) the soldiers.
This was tlie tirst womati's society ever organized ([
^ujipose) in Westjiort, broupiht about by the pressurt;
of a nation's need for woman'.s work. Public ineetinj^s
*siie Ijcld in l)otli i-iinrclie.s often atldressed by speak-
->.)4 lUSTUliY OF WKsrrOUT
evs fi'oin abro.nl, Tlie meetiiii^s for sowing ainl lli.)
trausaotioa of l>usiLujss were hfild in the l)ri'-,0mc!}ts of
tliQ chnrolios, ninl in the "Iloeh;ibitos' Hall" over C. 13.
Hatf'h's store. Tlit^so details, so dry to ;; .s( r:ii)i.fer, art>
full of life to (^3ie who oau reiiiumber the woineu as tl>\v
sat at work tooethor, talking about battles aud cariip>t
aud hospitals, and dropping many a te^w npoa the shirts
and the mittons. In those days thoy all v.ore hojps^
;iud dresses were often tluunoed froai heai to waist.
The hats were tiny iUt things, and the hair was wia-n
in a large braided coil at the back of the head, call-d a
"chignon."
The iigures which have beiMi given by no means rep-
r-.-eut all the su[)plies actually ^eiit, iis there were many
individual contriinUi(Mis, and tljere w;is a lar-ge auiount
of work done at Wadhams, nlthoiigli there see-u^ks {•■>,
have been no regularly organiz.ed. society tliere. Ont-
piece of the wcjuicu's work has h.een mare lasting thao
the rest, a fjiiiU which was u\a<hj no and ss nt io the
boys of Comjiauy A. The i)lo.cks v...'re ]>ink, an'] in th...
centre of earli was a square of v/hite mnslin, Each wo-
man took one block to make^ and when it was done sho
wrote lier nauic in iadeliide ink ou the wliite sijnare.
Can you imagine the soldiers beuilhig dver it when it
dune aud reading the different names? At the <.Mjd of
the war the cou^pauy gave this (piiltto Mrs. A. W'. Fay,
of Jay, the wife of a sahlier in tho 118th, mIio accom-
panied her huslvmd tiirough most <">f the oanipaigus.
She brought it hom,e with her to Essex County, aud has.
caused it to be «\\hibi.tejl ;i,t tic Coim.tv F-',ir wliefo c*
Jl I STORY OF WKSrroRT 5/i/i
li.is boon the object of iiuicli intert-st. f/sporially to
Westport u'otiieu.
Although so far from tlie land of slavery, ^^'est|>t»rt
had at Icastone contraband of war added to lier jjopula-
tion. AYhen Dr. Piatt 11. H. 8.vv.ver eamo hoaie from
the war be brought with him a black boy uamed Wil-
liam Mallory, who had come into the Uuion camp, and
iiad attached himself to the doctor as a. kind of body-
servant. Few Weyt})ort children Ijtid at tiiat time ever \\' ;,[
seen a colored man, ami the writer well remetnbers the
interest excited by thearriraJ of AVilliam, who )-eirjaitied
for some time in the famih-. He was very <juiet and
well mannered, and often admonished us chihlren in
points of etic[uette. Many years afterward, in 190i, 1
> isited Yir<^inia, and the name of Mallory Avmue in the
village of Hampton reminded me of the William of my
<'liildhfK>d. I began making inquiries, and 1 found an
njd eol>)red man who told me tliat he had known Wil-
liam Mallury well, that he returned to Virginia, mar-
iied, livc'l to iiiiddle age, died, and was buried in the
<^ravey;ird of old St. John's church.
After the war the S. C. Dwyer Post of the G. A. K.
was established, Gnd)racingthe towns of Elizabethtown,
Lewis and Westport. Memorial Day exercises are held
in r<)tati<ia in the villages of Lewi.s, E'town Westport
ami ^VadhanJS. Huccessive Commamlers of the Post
Inive b(.^n O^iav A. Phinney,' Daniel F. Payne, C. \\'es-
ley Daniels, Henry H. Eiehards, Daniel S. French ami
A lembert J. Durand.
Fspec.';jl]y ijj.terestifj!^ M(!U}uri;j.l Hxercisis were held
55H IIISTUHY OF WKSTJ'O/rr
in t!ie Westport Higl; School iu 1002, at which nuiuy
of tho old soldiers were presejit, and addressed tin-
children upon tho subjoot of their life iu the urruy,
!M;tjor Stevens read a written accuujat (_)f the histor\' of
Conij)iitjy A of th.e TTtli, whioh lias been the basis of
the sketch giveu in tliis b(u)k. One reiuarkabU- fact
connected with these exercises was that the President
of tlic Board of Kdneation, sittiu;^ upon the platform
with the •:^ray-heiided Union soKliors,— L")r. J. W. M.
Shattuck, — was in the Cijnfederate service as a medical
ofticer duriufj the v>'ar. He w:is boru in Yermont, but
was living iu Mississippi at the tiii^e of the outbreak ot
hostilities, and returned to the narth some time after
tho close of the war. Several young men boru iu Wost--
[lort fought uiider the Stars and Tars, Charles ando
Henry Xewell, sons of Elijah Xewell, v,-ere living ir,
Louisiana at the o.peiiing of the war, and cast in theii
lot with tho people with wh.oui they lived. This was
also true of Gideon, son, of BL-n];ui;in AA'arren.
And so the v.ar v;as ovt-r, and once more the lov/ii
life went on iu the olJ, v-.-ell worn way, tilling the soil,
trading for tlie necessaries of life, and keeping up the^
traditions oi old tin^e iu the yearly election of tow^
otlicers.
Tovvn MeetiuiT held in the Armory.
Sa>nuel iinot. Supervisor.-
Kfuben J. lucralis. Clrrk.
AaroQ Chu'k aid Win ¥: i\ivii^: .lu,sti,eos»
Israel E*altis(»u. Assessor.
WlliiO.m (> XicUel.-. C..'ii.^,-toA\
iiJSTOin' OF ]\ES'rPi)}rr r>:>7
Cborlos A. Sweat. Hiilb'Way CiMiimissioncv. , ,.
Peter Ferris uod Cbai'les C. Duusier, I'oor Masters.
A. C. Hall and Albert i'ierre. lu.spectors of Eieotion.
Hosoa I). Howard. Harvey I'un-cc. Cbarle>; H. Sweat.
Charles W. Holcomb, Peter Joubert, Constables.
Pathuiasters.—O. B. Howard, Granville Stone. R. W.
Arnold. William O. ^"ichols, Geor^re \V. Pattison. C. W.
{loU'Oinb. William Richards. P. D. Merriam, William T.
Williams,. James M. Whallon, H. D, Sturtevaiit. Eli Farns-
worth, Edwin Kidder, Sylvester Youn*:]^. Richard Egf.Tles-.
ton, Epbrrim Hill, Harvey Smith. Julius Vau^ban. Herri-
man Daniels. AlbertCar]»enter, J. J. Greele\, F 1>. ilow-
ard, Solomon StockwelL Luman JIubb;ird, J. F. Bra'.sted.
Jame.^E. Smith. Joseph Hod;/kios, Jerome Baily, William
Pierce, Webster Koyce. Riley Palmer, Jerome B. Bailv.
Survey bill of a road leadiui,' westerly fro.m W. P. 4.V P.
D. Merriani's CL)al Kilns to the v.-est line of Westport, be-
uinniuor at a point west of said Men'iams' store at the cen-
♦er of the highway, etc.
.Survey bill of a road leadin^^ udrtherly from the town
line between Westport and Moriab by the new Furnace,
and iutersectini: the road ruunin;:,' from Merriam's Coal
Jvilns to the West line of Westix)i-t, bet,Munin;,' where the
road crosses the town line, near a large rock marked T.L.
Surveyed by K.- H. Lee.
■"The Kew FuvDaoe" licro mentiouec'l in the bare
chronicle of the rou'l surveys means the iron furnace in
i ho boiithv.est corner of the town, sun'ountled by the
little uiushrooin settlement which is known in "Westport
as "Seveuty-live," though perhaps more cou)monly
oalled ''Fletcherville" in 3Joriah. Tlie iron works are
tlius described in ^Vatson's history, published in 1860.
'"This furnace is situated i^^-xt^x and a half miles
jiorthwest of Port Heniy. It is owned by Messrs. S.
H. k J. G. "Witljerbee. it F. P. Fletcher; its .srectiou
ivas o-omnienced in 1SG4:, and it was blown in in Auf:;ust,
bSiJa, The stack i.-. of stone, and the boiler house of
.biiciw Tii'.' )jcii/Ijt of the furu'Ci- i~. fcrtv-lv.o fftd, ami
oos j//ST(jj:y OF WKsrroirr
'the w iJth oi llio boslies eleven feet. 8toai]i is the mo-
tive power of the works, uml oLurfioal the only fuel con-
sumed. This is burnt in ton larp;e kilns, capable of
containing sixt3'-five co?\ls of wood. >iearly fifty
bushels of clnireoul is yieldt,'*! in these kilns by every
cord of seaSDiiod wood. The company own extensive
ranges of timber land, which supplies the material for
the kiln.s. 'i"ne average product pev week of this fur-
nace has been at some periods sevouty-six and a half
tons per week. A large proportion of the iron produced
here is manufactured in tbo Bosssjmer works of Troy.
Mr. Thomas F. Weatlierboe, is the resident agent and
manager Jit this furnace."
lu the Kssex County history of ISSo this furnace is
not so much as mentioned, and it was probably not if:
operation more than ten ye;ii-s, perijaps not so long ,■l^■
that. None of tlie ore used in this furnace wasc^btaiued
from AVestpoit ni.ines, although a shaft w;is sunk oi;
^Vestport torritt-uy a little west of the school house at
Seventy-five, to be soon abandoned and known henee-
forth l)y the descri{)tiYe title of the "Humbug nnne."
Ores from the Moriah luinos were worked up as long
as the fun^aee r,in, and wheii it had devoured all the
wood upt)u the mountains for miles around, it stopped
for want of fuel, and the machinery was afterward re-
moved. The furnace is now u heap of ruins, and the
settlement another "Deserted Village" of the Adiro-u-
daeks.
Much more uearl} atfeeting VVestptn-t as a U)\ki\ was.
another iron euterpri^ej entirely distinct fron.i the his-
nisT(j/:y of vnjsrj'oin' 5on
tory of the Moi'iah iviiues, whicli stirre<l tlu^ t^leepy littln
villai.e cf the days tliiectly alter the w.-ir iiilo a [.'louieu-
tary actu-ity. As early js 1801 a eoiaiiaiiy kuoNi'ti asthn
Lake ChaDipLiiu Oit- andJrou Ctnnpjuiy, purehastnl an
interest iu iiio8t of the Elizabetbtowu iiiiues jukI forges,
^Yhich had l^eeii \u operati(»D, i!>ore or less, siiiCG the es-
tablish tuetit of a forL;*.- at New Kussia, ou tlie Boquet,
in 1SC2. This e.onip.i'.iy was ch^sely eoi)ijeete<l v/ith the
banking firm of Jay Cor.k »V: Co. of Phil-nlelphia, which
had be^u the agent of the Unite<l States for the war
loans duriuji the Civil "War. Its representative in this
region was Mr, K, Hemiui^ton, who came first to lilliza-
liethtown, and o[jerated there for two or three years,
i.uyin^^the Haasz, Bujt, Steel, Odell and 31itch( 1) ore
beds, besides the Valley For^e on the Boquet, the
Jvin<j;d(uu or Xj-jbJe Forge on the Blai.-k, and eleven
thousaiid acre.s of woodland, iuvestijig, it is said, $100^-
<i)00 in tlie whofe. An ore bed in West})ort was also
l^nrchasev;], lying high «]» (ni the side* of Campbell Hill,
jnst .north of Xich.cjis pojid. This bed h;id been o]iened'
before L850,;}nd the ore worked up in tlio Valley Forfi;e,on
Ihe Boquet, with considerable sueeess. It is said to have
anade iron of a very fine grain, ajnl extraordinarilv due-
iile. Sijii'ti thes*? zire the (jualities (jF the famous Nor-
ivay iri)n, tht' new owners of the n)ine called it the X'>r-
'.vay heil It lies on lots Nos. lOli and 1(>«, Ir<^u Ore
Tract, not fa-r from Elizabethtown line. There are two
V)j>t.'iiings, the northern of whicii, accor<ling to the Bul-
letin of ihe >'fw York Sfote Mus<M]!ji, publJshHti IS'J,^,
r>no iiisToav OF WFsri'oirr
sliows the most \alual)lf l)o;ly ot' uic in llie loun of
Westport.
In lb(')8 the J.ak.- (.'h.iiii]iliun Ore k Trou C'<Mrij>a!;y
bonj^lit tlie Hal.-.teatl hou-^o ami laiul, !)et\veen Main
street and the l;ike shou. (uow ihe i^noiauls of the
Westporl Jiin,! a.ml a.lso the William J. C'r.ltiiig |.hu>-
at tile head of Lilierty street, \\\}0{i which iue now touii-i
the golf lit) as. Additional t',-irito!'y alon^ the lake front
was ol)tained by the [nirehase of h narrow stri{> from
Minevvii Clark, whose house stood on Main street, ami
a uuniber of acres from Isr.ie] l^ittison. Lw the fall of
IvSCO a lai\Li,e fuinaee was built upon the lake shore, and
n wharf thrown out a little to the noitli of it. J^ibei ty
street was ojifned to the lake for the tlrst tiling to give
access to the v. harf ami furniee, and the com[)aiiy
made a load from Main street to their works. Th'-
furnace stootl uj'on t!ie line lietween thelialstead pr^'p-
erty and th.»' laud south I'f it. It was not so large nor
so ex[>enaive as tlio Sisco fuiuace at Jacksonville, built
twenty yiars befoit!, and it manufactured but a small
iiuautity of iiou, never making lai-ge shipments. For
the masonry of the woiks the Gibbs brother^^ of U'est-
port,-- Orange Ciibl>s being tiie head of this linn, — were
employed by the cr. )ntraetors.
The furnace was named, I think, the Norway Fur-
mice, but the village peojile always calletl it the New
Furnace, and the wharf the New Wharf. The ore which
was made into iron here came from the Eli/.abethtowu"
mines, and fr^jm tin- Ni>rway l>ed at Nichols pond. 'Y\\*-
irauspovt;ition of the ore to the fare.aeo wa.> th.e great-
/nsT'j/n' OF ]yj:srr()irr r,ni
est pn^Uleii) of tlu> ciiti^-prise, ;iiul one \vlij(;lj tlie ctun-
paiiy never solve']. There was no railroad through
Essex county then, and all the iron nianufactureJ rnust
•Tosonth bv \vat<n', on eana! Ijonts, from the coQipany's
wliarf. The c)re lay on a nionntalnside sixteen huiidi'ed
feet higher tlian the tuinace, and about five miles away
in an air-liiie, i)ut no oiu:> expected the ore to come
down on an aii-liiie. A separator was built on tht^
shore c>f the pond, below the mine, and a tram-road
was ]>lanned to run from the separator to the furnace,
crossing the highway near the McMahon place. ]t was
to be ballasted with tailings fr<jm the mine, and it
crossed au arui of the pond. The rails were aetuallv
hiid as far as the highway, a.nd some cars of the sepa-
rated ore were run down, and their contents loaded upon
wagons to be carried to the furnace, but the work was
abandoned b^^fore the tuad was put in good working
condition. This train road was laiil out to pass within
fortv rods of the Merriam mine, which had been ojiencd
in 18G7, on lot No. IGo, south of the Norway mine, but
although some of the ore from the Merriam was traus-
])orted to Meriiam's Forge, (a distaiu^e of ten miles or
more,) it was all carried on the town's highway.
Two years from the time that the Norway Fur-
naco was erected, it was evident that Westpm't need
liope for !io era of prosperity- from the development f>f
her iron mines by the ]>ake Chan)p];.in Ore k Iron Com-
pany. The history of the enterprise is simply the his-
tory of an fxpfiiiiiHut. and <ine which proved, signally
lujsncces.^tu.l, the net results to the town beiii'j little
•y!2 HISTORY OF WKST/'Oirf
more than one or tuo aiLlitioiis to lioi- interesting col-
lection of ruins. Tlio failui.' of th.e linn of Jay Cook A'.
C(h, on Sept. 19, 1873,— the "Black Friday" which be-
gan the disastrous panic of that year,— occnrred some
time after the business in W'estport had been suspen-l-
ed, and there is no connection between tlie two events.
The separator on the shore of tln^ lonely ])ond and thn
furnace far bt4ow on the shore of the lake were suf-
fereil to fall slowly in decay, the machinery rusting
with neglect and damp. For years it was a favorite
I)rete:xt for an idle stroll to wander down to the shore
and look ari>und tlie New Furnace, which lay o])cn to
any visitor. 7n the map of 187G fcnir buildings are
shown still sta.ndijig at that time, hut in 1S87 the last
traces of the unsiglitly ruins were removed.
Eventually most of the }>roperty passed into the
hatids of a company with a slightly different name, —
fho Lake Cijaujplain Ore C(unpany, but the IIalsto;.d
house stood in the name of the F. I*. Fletcher estate.
The Pattison farm returned to its owner through fore-
closure, Mr. John A. Griswold, the great iron manu-
facturer of Troy, undertook the settlement of the busi-
ness in West]>ort, and afterward Gen. Marvin, also ont.<
of the iron men of Troy, owned the llalstead piojterty,
and when the house was converted into a hotel, in 1870,
i^ was called the Marvin House, on this account.
Mr. Ih Fiemington, the agent of the company, during
his residence in Westjiort boarded with Mrs. Har-
riet Sheldon in th.e Cutting house. This house w;is
al.-o connected with Ih.e histoi\ i>f th...- .Sisco funiae.-,
iiisroj:!' OF wijsrroirr 563
since it was occupied for five or six years by Hou.
George W. Goff, wlioi he owued the property at Jack-
sonville. Mr, Iveiuington was a gevjtlomau in tlie first
stages of consuni]itiiin when he caine into tlio Adiron-
dacks, and after the conclLi->ion (jf tlie Viusines^, (about
1871) he started for California, but died upon tlie way
thither. Various people connected with the iron works
lived in tiie Ifalstead and the Cutting houses, among
others Mr, Schubert, and Mr. Crowlej-, of Baltimore,
who built the tram road.
It cannot have been long aftei' the enter{)rise of the
Norway Furnace that the Split Iloek o)-e bed was
opened, on the steep lakeward side of the mountains,
directly opposite Fort Cassin. It is said that "William
M. Tweed, the famous Grand Sachern of Tammany, iu-
vesteil funds, public or private, in this mine, but his
connection with it cannot have been of long duration,
as his dramatic downf.-dl and imprisonment occurred in
1871. -After the railioad, in 1876, opened communica-
tion with the south, some Albany- parties worked the
mine and built the separator on the water's edge, the
ore sliding down from the mine bv" gravit}-. The board-
ing house was built then, and the workmen's houses, on
a narrow shelf seven hundred feet above the lake,
reached from the wharf hy long flights of ladderlike
stairs, with luindieds of stops. The landward approach
was across the Split Ivock range from the Essex high-
way.
^Ye must not leave this year without its record of the
lirst match game of modern base ball ever played in
5G4 in STORY OF WESri'ORT
the oounty, between the Adiroiulaclis of EHzabetlitown
aoJ the Monitors of Westport, in 'Tr.ly, at the county
seat. The Monitois who played that day were 11. \V.
Arnold, C. E. Stevons, George, Charles and Warren
Pattison, Hush and Harvey Howard, Henry Merrill
and Henry Sheldon, with Jim Barnes as quo of the
scorers.
1807.
Towu Meetin<,' held in the Armory.
Saiijue! Hoot, Supervisor.
George W. Cole, Clerk.
Jatnes A. Allen, Jusiice.
Eli Farnsworth. Assessor.
William O. Nichols, Collector.
Levi Frisbie, Albert Carpenter, P^dward Kidder, llii^h-
way Commissioners.
B. A. Barrett, Charles W. Holcomb. Poor Masters.
Charles E. Stevens. Ausel C. Hall, tliukiey Coll, Iusikh--
tors (if Election.
Edwin B. Low, Charles W. Ilolcomo, Ed win Lawrence,
Charles H. Sweet. Constables.
Patlimasters. — Henry vSheldon, Melvin Carpenter. Henry
E. Warren. Major Barber, Au(.^ustus P. FTolt. Charles W.
Holi'otnb, A. C. Lewis. P. D. Merriain, Aldeu Sibley, Cy-
rus Fj. Royce. Heni-y Lafnyettf, Dorr Howard, Charles C.
Dunster. Dewitt Hooper, 1). R. Woodi-utV, Epbraim Hill,
Harvey Smith. J Lilius Vuuirhan; Herriman Daniels. PI J.
Smith, P^leazer Welch, Alvin Burt, Solomon Stock well,
Lewi.s Cleland or J. P^'erris, J. F. Braistcd, John E. Santb,
Orrin Taylor, Guv Frisbie, Martin i'ierce, John Fortune.
Jerome B. Baile\v. D. L. Allen.
April 28 an election was lield to choose delej^ates to the
Consiitutional Convention. Whole number of votes i,dveu
for Senatorial Delegat.'s ti) the Convention, 121.
In March of 1S07 the M. E. church was rededicated.
having been etdarged and remodeled the previous year.
Twenty f(^et were added to its length, and the expense
of the alterations uir.oanted to >'Ii''Od. The pastor at
JUSTUUY OF WEST PORT 505
this time was the llev. David L^ytle. At the lerledica-
tiou services, the Rev. E. Went worth, I). D., of Troy,
and the Rev, J. E. Bowen, presiding ehler of the Pkittts-
burg Di.^Lrict, were pieseni. The trustees were D. L.
Alh-^n, Sauuitl Root, P. I). Merriam, AYilliam Frisbie,
Aaron Chuk, and C. W. Ilolcoiub. The committee on
repairs, Samuel Root, P. 1). Merriaro, and D. L. AUen.
Aaron Chirk was the builder, all the work being done
under his supervision. This was now the leading church,
in numbers and wealth, as it has since vemaiufd. In
ISSl the u}tjmbership was two hundred and fourteen,
1868.
Towu Meetincr held in the Armory,
Barton B. Ricburds. Supervisor.
Heury H. Kicbards, Clerk.
Pbiletus D. Merriam, Justice,
Alvin Burl. Assessor.
William O. Xiehols, Collector.
James M. Wballon, HiyhuMy Comm'issiouer.
Charles W. Holcomb aud Kitrredtjt Cross. Poor .Masters.
Hiijckh-y Coll, Cyrus W. ilicbards, Lauft-us H. Wbitc.
lusjiectors of Election.
William O. Mohols. Charles W. Holcorab, J. C. Osborne,
Frank Swtatt, Alfred E. Williams; Constaoles.
Elarvey Pierce appointed coDstable.
For this year we will give the names of tiie jiathmas-
ters iu conuectiou with the road district in which each
one lived. Since the adoption, in 1903, of the new svs-
tem of road working, these \\rxi\ disti'icts are no longer
i[n{)ort;uit as actual divisiotis, but are given as so much
iincient idstory. In another half century the names
iiud places mentioned will have arpiaint interest for the
Juluritors of tl)e soil of \Vest})ort.
ona jusroRV of wj:sTri>/rr
BoirndnrlcH <>/ lioad Disfricf-^ :
Xo. 1. BeginiiiDg at the nortli line of Piatt Sliokloirs
farm, and running to the soiUh line of O. L*. HowanTs
farm. Path master, Orrai H. HoirarJ,
1^ '• 2. Beginning at the town line, running nortli to the
^'"•^' south line of Samuel Root's farm. Ilcnri/ Sfonc.
• ■'■ 3. Beginning at the south line of Samuel Ptoot's
farm, and running north to the north line of Charles
Pattison's farm, including the road from Coil's Mills to
''-^•' the Warren school house. Clmrle.s IL Pali'ison.
4. At the house of James VV. Coll, running east and
north bv Archibald Pattison's to the S(,.uth line of A.
P. Holt's farn), including the road to Barber's Point
and Young's 13ay. lh))rij Frishu'.
5. At the north line of Charles Pattison's farm, run-
ning north to the west end of the bridge, thence south
along the plank road to James A. Alleii's wharf, thence
np the hill to the west corner of Page and Eddy's store ;
includhig road from Nelson Barton's ^vheel\vright shop
to Charles H. Eddy's by N. J. Barton's house; also,
from the guide board at A. P. Holt's on the lake road
to the south line of A. P. Holt's farm. hnwJ rof(h>u.^
6. At the forks of the road near Patrick Boyle's
house, running east to the forks of the road near the
gate. Enoch Gregor/j.
7. At the top of the hill in front of the Tnion School
liouse, running north by the -half way rock" near
AsaViall's; also the road running northeast to the
brook crossing the ro.id near the house of A. A. Allen.
Jlniori J. AIU„.
]1JST01!Y OF WKSTl'Oirr r>t:7
S. At t)io bvit],L;o ne;i.r tlio IMoses Fell ])l;ie(.', raiiniii<^
iiovtli by Morri.'iDi's Forp;o niitil it iiitersccts tlu',- road
le.iiliiij^ from "Wndhams Mills to Flssex ; includitig us
jmicli of said road as lies between a well situated a few
)-otls wost i)f P. L). Merriain.'s house, and the town line.
ll'if'iain r. Merri'titi.
9. At the brook near Almond Allen'b hotise, ruimiu;^
north to the north line of T. Pottery's farm, including
(h(i road riDiiiinf;:^ west bv Asahel Havens to the Moses
l""elt bridge. IViUiani T. JlUHnniH.
lt>. At tho north lino of T. Pottery's farm, running
jinj-Lh to the north line of the town near AVh;ilIcmsbnr,g,
jncladino; the road to M. P. Whallons. Cf/ms B. Piotjcc.
11. At the itnks of the road near the Anj.^ier scliO!,>l
house, running north to the town line, inohuling the
road by \VebstGr Pioyce's to the town line. Hcnnj Ln-
P2. Prom the half way rock north ft) the town line
near John ]\. Whitney's including the ro.'ui from the
grisl mill up the hill to the forks of the road where th<-
Presbyterian church formerly stood ; also the roa«l
leading west, a little north <if Elijah Wright's, to the
east line of Ileniy Pctts' lot. WiUlnui Lmcrmre.
10. From the corner of the rv^ad at the Exchange
Hotel, east to a woll situated a few rods west of build-
ings now ocoupieil by P. D, Mc-rriam, including the road
past Henry iJunster's to the Felr l?ridge, and the road
to Benjamin's Hardy's. Kdiriii J/ms.
] i. From the corner wliere the Presbyterian churcli
i'o.nnei.ly stood, we«it I'f Sylvester Youngs to in-.' phmk
of!s i/fSTojn' or wKSTpnirr
road, ij)cliidii;g tlic rf.ad from District No. i>7 to Joseph
HoilgkiliS. .lose J, I, lln.lqhiii.-i.
I'). From the (-(.iner uhnre tlio Prosbyteri.iia church
fonn,M-]y stocd, west t<. the east line of J^aae Johnsoirs
farm, inehuliiig the road nuiniug nortli past A. Hart-
well's to tho uorth Hue. I). Jl Ifooifm/K
!<;. From the Widow Bowers' iJaee, south acro.ss
the jdarik road to tlse run near old Soutiiuell place.
HoirorJ Fani-wortli.
17. Frcnu the forks of the road uear Samuel Storrs'.
o;ist bv Harvey Smith's to tlje road from the Willard
Plartwell }>lace to .^ivXiA^, Yaughau's. K,!,inr JUll.
IS. From Julius Vauglnui's we.L liue, east to John
. ]iroruley"s house. Marrns J. Hol.ln'ilon.
11>. From Julius Yaughau's west Hue, west to tlie
bridge uear Meigs" Forge, thence south to the Steel
Mill, /feniman Dmncls.
•20. From the southeast corner of Harry .]. Persons"
liotel, west and south to the south line of D. M. Howard"s
faru]. I). Munsjield [[..wur,!.
2\. From D. :\I. Howard's house, west to ^{. J.
Hoisington's including the road from Abram Greeley's
to Eleazar Welch's west line. ./. ./. r^yce^ //.
•2-J. From Orren Howard's south line, south U) tin-
town line. Alv'ui [i>irL
23. From the corner of the road near the Steven-
son school house, west to the town line. Orsnnus Sli.rk-
irt/l.
21. From the bri,lge at Brainard's Forge, northeast
iiisT()i:y OF WKsrroirr :>(;'■>
'£!> tho towu line uc-ar Clelaiul.>;, aiid hoiu Loe Prouty's
across to 1. Jolijisoii's. .hd'nis Ferris.
2."). From tlio IV'.t bridge soutli U, A. A. Alleles.
Abr<i)ii SJii r/ihitu, Jr.
2G. From iit-ai- Abraiu Greeley's, west to W. i*.Mer-
riam's west liue nji the mountain. John J:. Sml/Ii.
27. Froiu the corner near T. Johns-oit's, south to the
iM.rth lin.^ of Distvicc No. 14 LomarJ Tan'or.
28. Frouj the eojuer near Jnhas Vaiiglinn's, north
t(^ the |>h\nk road. M/h-h'n }'"n<j/\n),.
29. I'roin the corner near ]jrainard'.-i Forge, south
hy 8aru Pierce's to the north line of ~\\'iuo\v Jiowers,
also from the hrii-Iye at UraiuardV Forrfe east to the
line of Isaac Johnson. JIk/i/s JJnJ'jknis.
:J0. From th.e son.th line of John Mather's land to
the sontli line of the (own of Essex. JtJm !'(>r(ii,tc
ol. From tlie v/est liue ot Wm. P. ]\[erriatn's monut-
iiin, south to the S.-veuty-tive Furnace. l'li<H,i<is Ulth-
^■rhrc.
*-]:-> From the i.!;!nk road nt-ir Charh-.^ Ilolcomb's,
east to 1). L. Allen's wharf, tlience south bv Allen's
store, and west through the lane to the main road, be-
tween ]), S. McLi-ud and William Barna)d. ll'iU'xiin
jr. Oils.
On August 27, l>i(lS, the school district at S(?veuty-
Jive was formed, and calh'd No. Id. The consenting
trustres were Walt-^r Tetlt of ?iiuriah, William F. Han-
chett of Flizabethtown, and Alvin P,urt, Melviu Car-
j.enter and John Stevenson of Westpoit. H. Pilcv
Pahljt J- V, ,js ri-i'l ut at .S.'\ eiit v-iivr.
570 n/STO/n' OF WFsrruRT
.Statcinout of rfsult fsf General Elr-ctiou, Nov. Ij
Whole number of votes for Clovenior; — for John A.
Griswold, 25'2; for Joliii T. Hoft'nian, lo5. Vote for
Inspector of State Prisons, oSij ; for Keniy A. Barnuni,
242 ; for David P.. McNeil, 144. Votes for Member of
Assembly, 3S6; for feamuel Root, 257; for Abiathar
Pollard, 130.
Thu.s we. seo that Col. Koot went to the Assembly
this yeiiv, as ho also did in 18G0.
18(39.
Town Meeting held at the Armory.
Lewi.s ri. Koe, Supervisor.
Edwin B. Low. Clerk.
Cvrenus R. Payne. Justice.
Israel Paitisou. Assessor.
Henrv H. Merrill, Colicetor.
Marcus Storrs and Charles C. Dnuster, Highway Com-
missioners.
llarley Clark ami Samuel Pierce. Puor Ma-ters.
James E, Barnes. George A. Slcinner and iiinkley Coll,
Inspectors of Elect iou.
Putbmasters. — William Flovd. Alexander .Stevenson.
IKnry Warren. ILmrs' H. Merrill. H. i). JIuuard, Enoch
Grcgorv, Asa Viall. P. D. Merriam, E.hmuul Flovd. James
M. Wballon, Henry L.ifayetle, Orian F. Hardy, R Hustis,
.-\rtcmas Hartwcll. Harvey Drake. Fi-aoklin Vaugban,
Patrick Doyle. Heman Franl<liu. Albert Carpenter. War-
ren Pooler. Heni-y Stoue. Oriiu Stockwcll. George Palmer,
Abram Sherman, Juhn E. Smith, Ozro Taylor. Col. Ben-
nett. Martiu Pierce. John Fartuue. Thomas Witherbee, D,
L. Allen.
In July D. L. Allen was appointed Assessrn".
In October Harvey Pierce was ap[)ointed Coustable. J.
H. Allen, Justice.
This year's supervisor, Lewis H. Koe, was a uephew
of the Hon. George W. GotV. a.nd succeeded him in the
HISTORY OF WKsrroirr oti
iiKiii:io;omcnt of the Sisco fufii.-u-e iiiul llu' prcpeitv ut
Jncksonville. The Eoes came from Scotlau'l to Amer-
ica jiboiit 1730, uud settleil in Oraufie- count v, X. Y.,
before the Kevolutiou. The first immir^iatit was Jesse
lioe, and his son, Captain Nathaniel Pioe, was one of
first settlers of Cliester, N. \. His son Daniol was the
father^of Dr. Genest Tioe, who married EHzabeth Golf,
sister of Gt'or;^ro ^.^ ]{<.bevt, and Sophia, wlio married
Silas H. Withorbee. The children of Dr. Genest Roe
were: Lewis H., (reor^^e G.; Alice, wlio n^rtrriod Prof.
E. J. Owen ; Soi.hin, who married Jonatliai) G. Wither-
bee of Port Henry; I\lary, who married John W.
Whitehead of Port Henry; and Jcmiie, who mar-
ried Charles E. Hall of Philadelphia. Mrs. Elizabeth
Pioe lived at Jacksonville nntil her death, and her
daughter, Mrs. Hall, now owns the place. Mrs. Hall's
daughters are Sophia and Josepliine, the latter now
Mrs. Eob.M'tson Marsljall.
In April .-.f IS!')'.) occurrud tl.c great Hood uj-on Mill
J'.rook in :\J(,riali, caused by the rapid melting of the
snow with h< aw lains.
. 1S70.
Town Meeting held at the AraKjrv.
T.,ewis H. IJoe. Siqx-rvisor.
James [\. Allen, Clerk.
Edwin }>. Low. Justiee.
William W. Lawrence and Milr)Gibbs, Assessors.
James E. Earnes. Cc.lh-etitr.
Levi Eiisbie. Hiirliway CommissioML-r.
Peter Eerris and Edwin K'iddi-r, Poor Masters.
Charles E. St. >ven>,. Onin JIardv and Cvrns Eieliards
Inspectors i.f J'liretion.
u2
jiisroUY OF WFsrruirr
Harvey Pien-o, Jain'.'s E. D iriios. Eaoi-li G!-e,i,'ory. Ricb-
iiid IJiouii. Alviii Davis. Constables.
Patbniasters. — Henry Shield. )n. Alexander Stevenson.
Cljarles P.-ittison. Arcbibald Pattisou. Isi-aei I'attison.
Ktmeh Cre^Mi'v. .hjsliua Bennett. W'ildam i'. Merriain.
Wdiiiun T. Woiia(ns. Cvrns H. Royce. Henry l<aiayettt\
Henry Hetts. CyrenusR. Refd, D. Hooper. G.' H Pioree.
Kfdjrai.ni Hi!i. Henry Willard, Hai'uey Hoyie, Charles Pat-
ten. Harvey Ho^vurd, Warreu i^x)lor, F. H. Howard, Or-
liu Stoeku'eil. (.-ieort^'e Palmer, J. F. Braisted. John E.
Snjitb. 0/j-o Tavlor. John Quincy Adams J. T. Johnsoi;.
Join Fortnuo. Sorel Fountain. M. I'linn.
D. F. Payne was appointed Assessor in fiiaee <if WiUiani
I-iawrenee, who refused to serve. Israel Pattison was aj.>-
l^oinled Assesstu' m the place of >Hlo Gibt)s. wh.) refused
to serve. \\'driani Joiner appointed Constable.
This year it was l\»nii(I necessary to ])urclia>e » lu-w
book for the keeping; of the towt) records, wLieh is still
in use. The present writer has not pevfornT^d the Uibor
of copyiuu: the reeoi(]s in tlie new l)ook, leaving that for
a future volnme and (proliahlvj a futuie histoiian. Tln^
supervisors and town clerks t'oi' the p;ist thirty-two
3-ears liave l)eeii as follows :
1S71. Town aieetin^f in the Armory. Edwin B. Low,
Si;p..i-visor. Twenty-four years befor^^ this iiis father,
John H. Low, hail held the same otliee. The Lows,
f.itlier and sou, were also jnstieeHi of the town for the
^^reater part of the lives of each.doini; niueh of the legal
business ret|uired in the vieinity. James IJ. Allen,
Cl^rk.
\^~'l. Li the Aruiory. William P. Merri im, Super-
visor. James H. Allen, Clerk.
1S78. Li the Arujory. AViiliam P. Merriam, Super-
visor. James H. Allen, Cleik. liesiguing in May,
fl I STORY OF WKSTPORT .57.V
pvobablj to remove to Port Henry, his father, D. L.
Allen, was appoiDted Clerk iu liis place.
187-1. In the Town Hall, meaning that the Armory
had been purchased by the town, and was now called
the Town Hall Samuel Koot, Supervisor. Frnnk H.
E.hly, clerk.
1875. Daniel F. Payne, Supervisor. William C.
Pollard, Clerk. Tliis was the son of Dr. Abiathar Pol-
lard.
1876. x\iuhe\v J. Daniels, Su[)ervisor. "William C.
Pollard, Clerk. It is only fair to remark that Mr. Dan-
iels was the first one of the only two Democrats who
have been elected supervisor since the war. Westport
is solidly and stolidlyPepublican and conservative, as
the election returns for forty years will show, and when
a l^emocrat is elected to otHce it may fairly l>e taken to
indicate the popularity of the candidate.
1877. Charles D. S[)racnie, Supervisor. Charles Ed-
son Stevens, Clerk.
1878. Chaile.s D. Spi'ague, Suporvi,-;or. Charles Ed-
sou Stevens, Clerk.
1871', Samuel lioot. Supervisor. M. Judson Hickok,
Clerk.
1880. Merritt A. Clark, Supervisor. Frank H.
Eddy, Clerk, und )-e-elected to this office, with the ex-
ception of one year, for t\vuntyn»ne 3"ears, to the time
of his death, in 101)1.
1881. Merritt A. Clark.
1882. Charles D. Spra.^ue.
Ib8;i Mrrritt A. Clark.
5 74
iiisroin' OF WEsTi'uirr
y. 1881. D;ini..l F. Fayn-. ■ " i
•• I'l 1885. Fivohoiu }I. Pai^o.
f 18S<5. Froei.orn H. Pa.^v.
1887. Fi-eel>.)ni H. Pa-e.
18SS. H-nv H. Ki -h iv Is. Yiv. llich u-l^ is tli.-
socoaJ Demoiuat d'H-tdl to this oirK.-t- iu th- term of
yeiir.s Dinntiond.
1838. E.lt IV J. Slu'i'iDiiri. This yortr the t(;\vn nu-ft-
iug- WHS hekl foi' the tiist time in the new liiluaiy buiM-
ing. wliich had been o[)en(nl the pivcei-bu^ suinnu'i', aiul
each town nict'liii'j; since that tinu! has been hehl in the
same phic '.
181)0. ElK.M.v J. Sheiman.
t|.. lSi)I. EUery J. Sh.annin.
lS9-.i. Daniel F. Payne, Su[)ervisor. Low E. Fuller.
Clerk.
■1893. Daniel F. Payne, Su])<nvisor. Frank H. Ed. ly,
Clerk.
1891. Lnther Poardau.n Newell, Supervisor. This
was the hisi. eleetiuii un.der the o\:\ law ot anruial town
meetings. Heneel'orth all town otheers held otliee for
two j-eais. Mr. New( 11 dyin^ in ollice, Mr. Au'^ustus
P. Holt was appoinred Supervisor in his }>lace.
1890. Augustus P. Holt.
18*98. AuLiustus P. H.;lt.
1991. Samuel II. Ho 1-kins. Tiie Town Clerk. Mr.
Frank H. Eddy, dvin- i,, ..lli.-e, :\Iv. Georp^ P>.. Pich-
arils, his brother-in-law, was appointed in his ])laee.
Justices of the peace since' 1879 have l)eei! William
Dou-lass. (\ Wesley Danh |s, .] -aes A. Alhn, V^-^^^\.
niSTOHY OF M-KSTPonr 57 ->
Lester, Charles C. Duuster, Frank Vk Royee, Scott E.
Pliimiey, Jaioes E. Patten, ;:')d Case Howard, tlio last
four now boMiiig ofiice,
1870-1875.
The five years from 1870 to 1875 comploto the history
oi the Okl Westport, — the Westport without a rail-
road, and without a Hummer season devoted tci stran-
gers. Dull and listless whs the little place, with the
Days of Lumber far back in history, and the Days of
Iron just acknowledged as hopelessly past, althougli
there was in reality another decade of iron production
in the near future. One event cjf this short period was
the buildiui^ of the lighthouse at Barber's Point in 1873.
S})lit Fvock light had burned for twenty-tive years
and that at Crown Point for fifteen, but there was as
yet no guide for a n)idnight mariner seeking to enter
' JS'orthwest bay. Tin- light of 13arl.)er's Point is visible
iiftecu miles, aiid the tower is eighty-three feet high,
forming part of tine dwcliing of the keeper. The whole
structure is of stone, built at the top of a steep descent
into deep water, where the scarred rocks show tremen-
dous action of water and ice, exposed as they are to the
fnll force of the strongest wii]ds, waves and currents
found upon the whole length of the lake. From the
land the place is easily accessible, and a charming spot.
The first keeper of the light was Sergeant James E.
l?arnes, an old soldier who jiad lost one leg in the serv-
ice, and the ]>rest'nt one is Major C. E Stevens of the
77th X. y. \.
r,7r. }iisT()i:y or va'.sri'nirr
III till' •^piiii.u; "f 187."), jn-^t a> thi.' ic- was breiikiii::^ n\>
iii"tljo lake, tlio Huijtt'i- lui'K^' was 'Miiriiod upon Xottl.
Short', at HiMitei's bay. Jt <H'L'urreil in t!i'? evening,
ami tin; luiwoiirH 1 lij;ht was s ).:);i ()l>si;rvi'.l friiii t'l ^
^i!laL;♦'. It was two miles away liv watt-r au'l four l)V
lainl, l.Mit iiifii ia;i (liwii to tli<" l)(iat lioiis.-.-s on the shoi>,
an.] toojc out tlio L'oats v, I,i.-h ha.tl Iain th-i^^ ail wintei-,
laiinclu'd tjit'ni anil [uish-.] nil', niakiii_^ tlu'ir way as
best they fonM with lanterns bi-twer-n tiic floating- eakfs
of iee. ()th<'V>. hasteiii-il to tlut sc>ujf hy laml, but no
one ani\tMl in tiaji- to lie of njatfiial assistance, as the
hons.' with nea.rly all its f ii.-tr nts b.ni ned to the giiMunk
]\Ir. Hunt.'i- was at the time a. lielpless invaliil, and Mrs.
Hunter, before any lu'lp caii)t\ had herself brought hi:u
(»ut to a idaee ot safet\-, then retarniiiL!, for a boK of val-
uable papers sh'e was overcome and fell to the tloor
insensible. .-\ t 'his nioni-nt the farmer who lived in
the farinhon>e np.>n t!ie jilacr) ;>.rl■iv^'d, anil .i^oini^ iufi'
the bnrninij- hon<e discovei'e.l .Mis. Hunter nj-ion tln-
tloor and broii;j;ht le:r out. 'J'he hc'iise was not rebuilt
until ]9()-2.
Also upon North Sh<>rt\ that sa.me summer, tlu^
fore the railroad was built upon our side of the lake^
there were two rtLjular line ^tt'amers touohin.i^ at our
wharf daily, a day boat and a iiiij;ht boat. The niL;;hr
boat was the ('ham[ilain, makin<_j her landing at near
itiidLM^ht. ( )ne clear, still, moonlight night near the mid-
dle of July shi' toiudu'd at our wharf. dis,-h,irging freight
and pa-><. uj'-is, the lal'.-r nu:t: h'-i iul', >e\.-ral of the^
iiiSTonr OF WKsTPoirr r,77
tirst suinraer Ijoar.lers ■wiio luul fouml vis out. The
stertLier went on lier way, but wlieu she came to the
ijortbevu point of the bay, just V)eyond Piork Harbor, a
place where her course lay close uuder the shore, ainl
iti water two or three luuulred feet deep, =:he failed to
luake the necessary turn around the point, and ran
upon it, tlie force of her engijies lifting her out of the
water as lier Ijow slid up u|iou a shelving )"ock. There
she hung ovei- a backbone of rock, her great timbers
straining and V>reaking amiilships, with her bow out of
the. water and t!ie wjives washing in at the stern win-
• lows, and setting the dining room afloat. Tliere was
no panic among the c)-ew, and the passengers were soon
set ashore in safety, the gang-plauk being ) un out to
the shore, quite in the ordinary waj-, with trunks and
valises following as though lake steamers commoulv
marh,' lamlir-gs at midnight on lonely and uninhabited
shores, wilh bewildered passengers hustled oft to sit on
the rocks until ?n(nning. Soon after daybi'eak the tug
A. V\ illiams came ahaig and was signalled alongside
the wreck, and the passengers transferred to lier deck
for the continuance (^f tlse vovage.
Perhar>s the very tumeness of this shipwreck, in
which no lives were lost, gave rise to tlie stc^ry that it
was premeditated, and a neat device of the Transporta-
tion C'Un]>any to obtain the insurance of an *)ld boat.
For my part, 1 have n»ner been able to believe it ]")os-
sible that tiien would so risk their own lives in so dan-
gerous an experiment. Close tjtl" the point upon which
the Cham[ilaiu struck, the wat.u' measures from one
oTS- iijsroin' or ]VKsri'i)i:r
\\\\rAxei\ to ODO buudrcd and fifty foot in dt j)tb, srn(,K)tii
rock.s (h(>])piii;j; sheer down beneuth tlm water, and
had she rebounded as she struck, or luvd she strucl;
only a few feet farther from shore, she wouhl have sunk
out of sight witli all on board as soon as she could have
filled with water. If it was planued, it was well planiied,
and an example of tlie fine art of wrcekin;:;. Ca})laiu
George KiisMow was then in comii.iind of the Chain-
})laiu, and the pilot was John £ldridii;e. The latter left
the boat iustauth- as soon as she struck, made his way
to the shore and wandered ofl' into the woods upon the
tlie nK>uutaiu sides. At daybreak ho eauic to the house
of Col Lee, about four miles from the scene of the
Avreck, seemiujj; to be com^doteh' lost, and too much
dazed to be able to give a. clear account of his recent
experience. All this served to give a touch of mystery
to ihe event wliich greatly added to the eiijoyraent of
the village people as tln^y rn.se to the comprehension of
the fact that this startling occurrence, a ge-nuine hope-
less, disastrous u icck, had been sent to tliese sliores by
that especial Providence \shich sometimes remembers
the Places Where Thiiigs Never Happen. It was printed
in the New Yojk papers that there h.ad been a Wreck
near "Westport, and we felt that now we might dare to
defy Obli\"iou. There was a distinct sense of wistful
regret that the wreck in itself had not been more shock-
ing, so as to attract more attention in foreign parts, but
we u)ade the most of tlie storj- as it was. On the pro-
gram of the next school exhilntion, arranged by u
teucher v.ithi a tine eve f^-r jjual ciVt ct, .--twud thc>L
HI STORY or wrsrroirr r.jft
words : "rooui— Tliu Vrrcck of tho Champlaiu," and tl o
\illa'.^e poet, then a youni!; i-i.l, did her l)ost at working
up the dramatic points of tho incidont. T'ne poet has
uot felt herself tho contro of so treinondon^ an occasion
since the night when she road that poem to the soleum-
faced rows of people sitting; on the rode benches of the
old schooMionse. There v,-as one plac(^ in the poem
where tlier.> li;'d I'M-ei' a drtulful strn<j;:;if botweon the
rh3"me and the f^raninnar. It is now quite forf:;(-)tten which
went to the wull, but it was full twenty years afterward
before it occurred to the. poet that that particular stanza
mi^lit ]jerha)js have been left (jut. But she retuenjbers
Avith gratitude the sturdy patriotism which ap)->Iauded
witli undi>,criminating admiration, and has never regret-
ted that she hel})eil to heighten the etrect of an unusual
incident in our history.
The point ujion which the Champlain was wrecked
lias since been known as Calainit}' I'oint.
^NJoclt'i'U llir!^toi*y.
3H7(i-10()4.
A\'itii the last quarter oi the nineteenth century may
be said to begin the story of tho Xew Westport. In
1S7() came the railroad, connecting Albany with Mon-
treal, and giving us for the iirst time swift access to
either. That this railroad, ov.ued l)y the Delaware t*L-
Hudson Canal Comjtany, runs along the precipitous
shore of the lake, instead of thrr)ngh the corn]iai'atively
smooth valk'V foUowLiI b\ thr OJd Siai _■. ll'ad through
->S0 HISTORY OF WKSTI'dRT
Seliiooji ani.l Lewis to Keoseville, i.s entirely clue to tlie
r^reat iuflnonce of the towu of Moriali, stroug in her
ii'on interests, and seconded b}- all tlio lake towns as
far as luy in tlieir power. Westport w;is bonded for
?'2o,000. The road as a whole presented great engi-
neering difficulties, but its passage through, the central
valley of Westport, avoiding both our mountain systems,
called foj- no tunneling nor extensive blasting. liegu-
lar trains began ruiniing in time to carry Essex County
people to the Ccnteuuial Exposition at Phihideli>hia,
and to njauy a nativt^ youth tl.at suuuner was the fir-;t
which gave him a glimpse of the wide, wide world.
Now came the decline of the lake tratlic, with its many
romantic conditions, afUrward ])artially restored by the
increase of summer traveling for pleasure. And with
the railroad arose the era of the sutjimer boarder, with
all which that implies.
'For ;iiiotlit'r reason the year 187G marks a division
line in our village liistorv, in that it was the
year of the Great V\r<\ a calamity which cleared the
wa}- for man}" changes. It occurred on the night of
August 15, originating, probabl}- by accident, in the
stables of the old Lake House, and sweeping southward
along Main street until the hotel, the corner block owned
by D. L. Hooper and Ii. J. Ingalls, the dwelling house
of Y. C. Spencm- and the Baptist chui'ch were consumed.
Then the wind shifted ever so little fiom north to west,
and the brick corner block across the street, containing
the stores of C. H. Eddv, E. B. Low and Amos Pres-
cott, was also destroyed, and tin- ne\t l>lock eonsidera-
UJS TOR Y OF WKS TI'OR T
581
l)ly (latunged. In tlio buiMiiijj; of E. B. Low wa?; the
jio.st-office, then kept by William Douglass, aud in that
of C. n. Eddy was the town clfu'k's office. One historic
deposit coiisiitned with Eddy's storo was a quantity of
type and priutiug uuderial, the mortal remains of the
old Turner iio\vsp;:{).n-, consignt.^l to the cellar a gene-
ration before. The excitement and confusion were
great in a \illage witli no ilrt de[)aitment and no ade-
(juatf WHtt-r sup})ly, but mi-n fought theflauies l)ravely
inch by inch, climbing the shingled roofs and covt;ring
tiiem with wet earth and sods, carrying water in pails
from wells ami cisterns, and even up tlie hill frou) the
lake. The three bells were rung until tlie cr)untry
])eople foi- nd!es aidund we)-e roused, and came in to
htdp. It ha[i[)LMi.'d that there was at tlie time a Teach-
ers' In.->titute lieM in town, and the hot'"-! was filled to
its utmost capacity. The ohl Halstead hour^e, opposite
the J;;:[)tist chiach, was .->aved by the thick, d a ni]), foli-
age of the large elms and ii!a])li.-s which li.-ul shaded it
for so many y.'ars, but these were so badly scorched
that they have never i|uite recovered their beauty, and
some of them have died. Idie total cost of the fire was
estimated at .'^7o,0()'). The burned area w;is immedi-
atelv- built over by the owners, ia a manner greatly to
the advantage of the village, with the exception of the
hotel site, which lay untouched for eleven years.
Thus the soulhern part of the village was left with
no [ilace of entertainment for strangers, a state of things
which had not existed since John Halstead built the
I'ust frame house in the village, ou the south corner at
oS2 lUSTUllY OF \Vi:STI\)l!T
the top of tho lake hill, \n 1800, and there oitereJ cn-
tertiiiiiinoiit to uiati aiui l)east. Ilevo caine tho earliest
travelovs, laudiu^if from tlio ferry, or awaiting its uncer-
tain arrival. Bat in course of time conditions changed,
and from about 1S25 the house was a private dwelliuu,
occupied by the Halstead and Sawyc^r farijilies ur.til
1868. Then it was sold to tho Lake Champlain Ore
and Iron Company, and this coai])any owned it at th'.:
time of liie fire. A large addition was thtn built to th-r^
house, and it was transformed into a hotel, under tlie
name of tho ]\[arvin House. Gen. Marvin of Troy, one
of the iiou magnates of the day, was the principal owner.
For ten years the management changed frequently, ]Mr.
Montford ^Veed keeping it the greater {lart of the time,
and in 1887 the propoty was purchased by the present
proprietors, and the house became the Westport Inn.
It has been improved and built upon until the original
striu'ture is now entirely goin;. The Inn is a summer
hotel, k^-eping open only fron) Ju!ie to Octobei-, and has
become one of the popular resorts of the Adirondacks.
It is in its season the principal hotel of tlie ])lace, ac-
commodating one hundred and fifty guests. The first
manager was Mrs. Henry C. Lyon, followed after a few
years by Mr.s. O. C. Daniels. In 1900 (ho management
was assumed by 3Ir. Harry 1*. Smith, who has been
connected with tlie Inn since its first opening. The
Inn property now comprises all the old Halstead prop-
erty along the lake shore, with two places across the
road, the Gables and Over tlie Way, besides the Wil-
liam J. Cutting place, on which are the golf liiiks
]I1ST(H!Y OF WKSTrORT 58B
strotoliing back toward tlio rnountaius, .'ind the club
liou^o oil t]ic corner, niiide out of J. N. ]>artou's carriage
siiop.
The v.-ater worK-^; came as a direct couseqnence of the
opeuiii;:! of the luii, the cotiipany being cliurtered in
1801. Tlie ^vatcr, the be.st in tlie workl, is brought
from the iNtouiitain S{»riug iii the hills bnck of the vil-
1 ige, and the pipes extend from A. P. Holt's on the
south to Stouy Sides ou the north, from Jacksonville on
the east to the railssay station on the west. All tho
central part of tho village is sewered. ,
M lie Ivil)rai'y.
In the winter oi 1884-5 v,as the first movement to-
ward a town Library. Tlie idea originated with Miss
]^. May Howard, then teaching south of the village,
and was eagerly approved by the faculty of the High
School, at liiat time consisting of tliree teachers, Mr.
Chns. F. Cliisholm, Miss Kate lingers and Miss Lina
II. Baiton. Other 3-ouug people of the town who gave
help at the beginning were Miss Lou Trescott, Miss
Ada G. Douglass, ^Miss Minnie Xewell, Charles
Holt, George Lichards, Harry ]>ouglass, Frank Koyce,
and Beu Douglass. Mrs. Francis L. Lee ga%e substan-
tial help when applied to, and Dr. F. T. Delano, then
just settled in town, gave valuable aid.
The young people held entertainments in the Armory,
which hiid been fitted up with a rude stage antl ruder
jieats some years before for the use of the Forrest Club,
.•7.S-/ iiisTory or \vi:srr<>irr
unJ in a few inoiitlis fifty Jolliirs was raised anil in-
vested in \>ooks. Mr. Amos Prescott offcrod iho use of
a wing of his lionso as a library, and for three years
his daughter acted as Libi'ariau, with some help frou;
other young ladies. Membership tickets were sold, en-
tertainments and soc.iid>les were held at the hons(;3 of
lieople kindly disposed and the first catalog, printed
June, 188(1, showed 2!-^8 volumes. Now, after eighteen
years, wx- iiave over twt^ thousand volumes.
In 1887 Miss Alice Lee took an active ])art in tin
ft>rtnues of the growing labrary. 13y personal effort
she succeeded in obtaining subscriptions iu town of
81,100 iu cash and labor, and donations from friends
outside to the amount of 81,400. In October of 1887
the West port Library Association was incorporated by
the state, tlio charter menibi^rs of the i5(^ard of Trustees
being Miss Alice Lee. Peter P. Bacon, Frauk H. Eddy,
Prank T.Delauo, John lloli'nagle and Luther B. Xew-
fll. Upon Mr. HotVnagle's nuivir.g to Houses Point,
David A. Chak v a,^ elected iu his place, and after tlu>
death of Mr. Newell Mr. George C. Spencer "and Mi'.
Frank B. lloyce were elected trustees. After the re-
moval from town of Dr. DeLauo and Mr. S])encer, and
tJie deaths of Mr. Bacon and !Mi'. Eddy, three morn
were elected, Mr. Frank E. Smith, Mr. Harry P. Smith
and ^Nfr. George B. Kic;h:ads. The President of th<'
Association is Miss Lee. Secretary, 3It. L. B. Newell,
succeeded by Mr. Frank B. Boyce. Treasurer, Mr. F.
H. Eddy, succeeded by Mrs. F. H. Eddy. Feu- a nuuj-
ber of years the work of Librarian was don.r i;.r;itui-
insTnnv OF \v/:s 77 '0/rr .3nj
(ously [<y lailios liviii;.^ in toun, tlie iirst of wiiom w;is
!Mis>^ Louiso Prescott. After the new buil'liriL; w;is oc-
cupied help wus given by ^liss Ad.i CJ. Dontjlass, Mrs.
F. T. DeLuno, Mrs. F. IT. E.ldy, Mrs. J. L. ](wl.erts,
Mrs. F. E. Smith, Mrs. F. B. Fvoyce uud Miss Jeuuie
Daniell Siuce 1S92 p:iid Lil>i;ni;ins luivt; l>eeu em-
j'loyed, — Miss Maiian Feriis, >nss IMurie, jjaeiui, after-
uanl 3Irs. Harry I'. KSixiith, Miss Osite ]3ac(>iJ, afttr-
waid Mrs. .L,hu H. Eow, and Miss ^Folly Eddy.
The v;icaiit lot in the Cfnlre of the vilhige, still cov-
ere(,l \\ith the ruius i)( the oKl "Ferson's Kotel," -was
purchased as t!ie site for tlie new Libraj-y bnilding, and
tlie grounds were leveh.'d and cdeared l)y contributed
)al)or. The Library buih.ling, 2Gx5'2 feet in size, was
desip;ued by ^lessrs. Atjdrews c^- Jaques of Boston, and
constructetl by Mr. David A. Clark. On Thursday
evening, July 2i">, ISSS, the hall was tille;! with the au-
4lience which had gathered to witness the opening cere-
monies. I'pun the p!atf(jrm sat the trustees and li-
brarian, witii the ILev. Fl. Jj. Crrant of the M. E. Church,
Eev. Mr. Benedict of the Baptist, and Bev. F. X.
J^aChance, of the B>)tnan Catholic Churcli, and also
I\[r. Amos Piescott, who had given the Library a home
lor three years. I)i-. F. T. DeLauo jnesid-^d, an ac-
count of the v.ork was given by 3fr. L. B. Xewell, and
the i)rincipal addiess was made by the PIou. Richard
L. Hand of Eliz.dyetht<iwn, full. )wed i)y remarks from
Senator K. C'. Kellogg.
TIjc Library has been us-d since its opening ns a
town Ii.lII, in wiiicii eleclions aud. town meetiirjs are
.-:isv; iiiSTo!:)' or \vi::sT!'()in'
held. It is al:so t!;o must availalilc j'l.u.'u for public en-
tertainments. It is sa|.'ported entirely by the rent re-
ceived in this \va,y, by tickets sold to lion-vcsidents and
V)y contribuiions from friends, as the town has never
been taN<-d for its inaintenanoe. , ■ -
■ ^Ve.-^tpoI't Pj^mu^.
' Import;int in the his,*-ory of the ohl ]>a.tent of B(^ssl)oro
WAS the paiichaso, in ]S*.)4of nine farn^s alon^- the Li]>'
shore, l.>y Mr. Jaujes McKiniey GraHfl'. These farms,
with a mountaiu hit on Har{ior mountain, er)mprise
ei<j^hteen hun(h-ed acres, and all are o{)erated toj^etln r
under the name of tlte AVestjiort Farms. No liner farm-
ing bind can l)e foar.d in all the world, and hei'e much
(■jf the m<'d<-rn improv;'(] f:irmin;.^ m;ichinerv has be.-n
first seen in t<uvn. The Creaujery, the manufacture of
maple suuar in its sojison. ;uid all tlie operations of a
larf;e estate <;ive emjiloyment to lar^e tiumbers of vvork-
uien ,ind their families. The residence lias been Ijuilt
overIot)king the ^ute of tlx'old p>re-Kevo]ntionary settle-
ment of Ibiymoutrs Mills, and the island of Father
Jogues. The beautiful bay has now a traL,de interest
from tl^; drownini:; of Mr. Graelfs ehlest son, a bov
of twelve, in June of VMV.). It was in I'.lOO that Mr.
(rractt receivcvl his tirst ^-lection to the A<send)ly, and
he i-s now holdiu'j; his f jurth t M-m as memb.^r froa\
Essex County.
HISTORY or ]v/:sn'ojrr ^.sr
1j-oii.
■ To thi-> last quiirter rrntary bcloiio-.-^ tlxMocord of th.-
last iron innnat'acture in t!u^ town, ainl it wouM
sepm tliat tliis is tiie jno|Hr plaeo inv a brirf sutninavv
of tl)e v,-ljole Lislorv of that indn^-iry. It niijzht ite sai'l
to begin with Pliilip Skene, about ITt)."), sliippiuo- ore
from the Ci-DWi] i'oint bcil, iun\ tlie (,'lu'( v.m', to Slcene;-
boro, followed by tlie ofteiations of the Phittsburgh pro-
])rietors at the same })la('e ;it'ter the llevolution. But
for the soil of the presiiut AVestport tht- history of iron
begins itj the earliest decad-^ of the nineteenth century,
with the work of Jonas Morgan at two points on th»^
Black rivt-r. Tor fifty yeais, the time being divided into
two periods by the freshet of I80O which swept away
most of the work of the oarliost settlers, the little forges
on the Black carried on an intermittent but not an in-
(•oi!,-,iderabit inhi-;try. Here belong the names of
Brainard and Mitchelh Soivhweli, LobdeU, :\Iyrick and
Hatch, ending with Meigs, who vanished in 1855. Ir<>n
was not made npon the Bocjuet so early as u[)on the
jjhick, but the towij records mention Wadhanis and
liraman's foige at the Falls in ]S:>-_>. and in lS-20 the only
iron works in town were those of Barnal>as ^lyrick at
the same place. During this half century of small local
iron making, bai- iron was leeognized as a standard i)f
t'Xchange, equally with gtain and cattle.
Tht; seeonil j.ieriovl begins with the ])iirehase of tiie
C'heever ore bed by Boston capitalists in IbiJS, leading
to the development nf the ^[oriali ndiits, and the in-
o.w iijsTony OF WFsrroirr
creaset.! inamifacturo of their ore iu Elizaliotlitown aiul
Wcstport. In 181") tlu; ]'lank road \ViLs laid from tlio
YEiUey to the l>ay, chiedy f-ir the conviiiitMice of the
IDPU who \\>:re drawing iron to the \vliui\e.s. In the
sanje year Merriaui's Forj^e wiis opened upon the Bo-
quft, to soG a prosperous existence of about twenty-five
yeai-s, tnakin;:; in ISHiJ f<'ur hundred ;uid iifty tons of
iron, and u.-in,!^ ^'io^'^y thousand bushels of cdjarcoah
All the oi'e was drawn ovt;r tlie iuount;i,ins fr(;in Mine-
ville, mucli of it in the- winter, the fanners of the neigh-
borhooil j^oii!!^ with ado;u1 of hay or grain, and return-
ing with a load <jf ore for jlerriam's Forgo. In IShS
the Siseo l-'urnaee was l)ui!t U}ion the lake shore, by
Boston ca|)ital, aiul r<''presents the heiglit of our iron
produrtioii. Six to nine tons of iron were made pei
day, but all was over with Jackson's failure in lSo7.
To this pei-iiidi belong the first attenii)ts to raise ore in
We-tport." The Campb.dl or Nichols Pond beil (after-
ward tlie Noiway) was opened between ISdo and ISoO,
;uul the or.' ust-d in the ^'ulley Forge, in Ehzabethtown.
About 1850 the Jackson or Le'lge Hid bed was opened
and the (ue used in the Sisco Furnace. 'Jhe Merriam
bed was not opt^ned until 18fi7.
After the war came the third period, and the briefest
of all. The furnace at Seventy-fi\e was built in 18i')4,
standing by a geographierd acciilent on Westport land,
but belongingin fact to the system of Miuiah irou work.s.
In 1S()8 th{^ Lake Champlain Ore and Iron Coin[)auy,
of which firm the most famous name is that of J'.y
C'uok, begin i>peratious, !»udding tiie Aorway Fuinaco
JiisTuRY or WKSTj'ojrr osd
in 18G9, Avith the separator an.l tram road at Nichols
I^oud, and giving' its name to tlie Xoruay bed. At
nearly the same tiuje the Split Rock b.-d v.-as opened,
faintly enhaloed with the name of Boss Tweed, but not
until the late seventies were sepnrator, wharf and dwel-
iuij^' houses bnilt.
Our fourth i-eriod, and the last, that of Payne at
Wadhatns Mills, extends from 1873 to 1881. Daniel
French Payne h;id bou^trht all the old Wadhams i)rop-
erty, lands and mills, in lSt3o, bnilt a new saw mill in 1SG7,
and enl,ir-ed the -rist mill in 1868. ]n 1873 he began'
the construetior of a two-fired for-e, finished it in IsV),
added another lire in 1879, and still another in 1880.'
"^ith this plant his maximun) ].roductioti of iron was
one thousand tons a year. The ore was brou-ht from
. the Moriah mines and from Ferrona and Chateau<;av
on the raihoad. The last iron was made in 1884, Uie
difllculty of r.btnminr. charco;d rendering it., farther
production unprotitable.
^a-his undoubtedly ends tl..? chapter of iron makin-in
Westport. The water-power at Wadhams has ^ince been
used only for miliin,^ puri.oses. but now, in lliOl, it is
about to be utilized for an ext.>nsive electric j)laut,'capa-
ble of furnishing light and power f..r manv nules'of the
surrounding country. So that instead of loa.ls of ore
dragged slowly over tiie niountains to be made intoiron
at the Falls of the Po,}UHt. the eloctricitv generated at
the Falls will be ri...hed to Mineville to furnish the
power for working the mines there.
••^•^'> iiisToirt- or i\'/:sT/'(,/rr
lloui-.xn CaihoIi<. C-]iin-cli
. ■ It was iiU^MHlo.l to -rive o.npbt.- sketches of ...,e].
f Z';^ ^^';-- ^■'--■'x- i" tou-n, b„t th. essential
•leta.ls ot th. iMs.o.iosof thetlnve lVotostant<]eno,nin-
';^^^"7'^'^^•'-i'vl^^^^ath,Mo,l from tl.o a.ta given i„
t.e cl.ronol,Ki,.al .c.ount. and any one intH.-.sted .vill
gladly un,i..rak. the trouble of tra.-ing their growt h
nu.l <levdop:n.nt. The, were organi.-.l earlv amon^^
an en),grant ],eo,,h. of New En^and ori,.-:,, ..js one of
the tirst necessities „f th^-ir da,!y live-, the Baptist
clun-ch in 1807, the M. E. church in ISK; and tli.
Congregational so:ne.-hat lat.r. T!,e fourth church
lias been unmentioned until an ontHn^ of its history is
n(nv given.
The first uhite num u ho ev-r looked upon the shores
of ^estport uas a Ko.nan Catholie, -San.ue] d. Cham- "
rl=^'".n']nO:.. Th- tlrst white n.an w],osc foot ev.v
luess.d ti.e soil of AV.stporl was a l(on.an Catholic --
Tere Isaac Jognes, a Jesuit priest. In M]lo he with
tn-o conipanions, Couure and Goupil, also priests^ were
-M'tured by the Moha.ks on the St. Lawrence and
-^•n-l,npLdceChamphun. Landing upon the island
"•'••u- the southern sh ,re of the land which is now
v^tlled Westport, th. thre. priests w.re con.,,elled to run
t"^' g^iuntlrt, and wer.^ otherwise tortnr.ul. Per. "
')<»:^nes was afterward kill -d uy tin- L)dians in the Mo-
lijiwk country.
All through th. on. he.ndr.dand fifty years <,f French
sovereignty ove, Lake ClKunphun and its borders, the
Ill ST (J in- OF ]\-KSTi'oirr sfa
l\)pe of Koinr, chiiino.l spiritn.il sway ovcm- all souls
xvithin it. When the- lort ;it Crow,, Point was built in
]731 ;t little chnicli sheltt-i-ed an altar where mass was
said, at tiinos, as l.nig as the lilies of France floated
from the Qa<^ statl" upon tho rani]. arts. The French
village near the fort saw nj;;ny a priest stoppin.c; for
a night on his journeys up and down the lake, soiue-
titnes with a war party of p-aintc-d sava^-es on their way
to barn villages on the Fn-llsh fnnitier. To this pe-
riod, we believe, beIc>n,L;s the little ebony iina^e of the
Virgin and Child, discovered among the pebbles of
North Shore. Son)e Canadian vinager, some ludian
convert, or some missionary priest traveling in the bark-
canoe of an Ifocpiois warrioi, njay have drc^pped it as
he stepped ashore for a night's eucampnient.
AVhen the country was given over to England, in 17G8,
the religion of France retained no foothold upon it.
N«)t until 1810 was mass fust said in Port Henrv, and
not for several years aft^T that in Westpoit. The Jlo-
inau Catln.Iies in the place have been, almost without
exception, immigi'auts fiom Canada, in numbers too few
to maintain a separate parish until within twenty years.
The conversion to Koinan Catholicisuj of Edgar NYad-
Ijams seems to have little connection with his bovhood
home, as he was received by the Sulpieiaiis of .St.Marv's
Seminary at J3altimore in ISI",, four yeai-s afterward
ordainetl a p.riest of St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral at Albany,
and there remained until he became first Bishop of the
new see of Ogd.Misbnrgh in 1S7-2. Therefore it cannot
}^e r,aid that he influenced the growih oi tlie church in
ry9'2 in STORY OF ]v/:sT/'o/rr
tliis ^icillily in any (.legto.- uuti! his fiitraiice upoD hi?;
l)islK>pii(\
In liiol liuil was pnrchaseil for a ehnroh ai\il cenio-
torv, and the I'raine of the chinch was raisfl aud eii-
ehjsed. a]tl;ouL;h t\]<^ bniMiui; reni.iiiuHl uDootnjiletpd
for more tluui twenty years. Active irj these begin-
nini;s, as always tliruiiL^h tije subsequent history of th'i
church, was Mr. I'eter V. Dacou, wlio was tiustee of
the churi:h until his death. Orh^a- trustees have been
INIichael Flinn, Johu Close and John Ferrell. Upon
tiie aj)pointuient of Bishop Wadhanis to hissee, he sent
Father Sliiclds to this !uis>i()i), and afterward Father
O'liourke, in charL^e at Fort Henry, .i^ave time and at-
tention to the ctjni])it tion of the church in 1S70. In
ISS'2 the |)aii-^h of \\'estpo]-t was formed, includinc;
Elizabethti^wn, Fssex auil Keene, ;ind it was attended
by the Kev. Jo...'ph Fetlini/tv)!), and tlnTi hy the
] lev. John . Sullivan, u ho died in tiie \\ inter of ISSl.
The n^xt summer the Rev. Michael Halahau was re-
n-ioved I'rom Ins position is assist.int at tlie cathedral aud
placrd in elnirge of the parish. Tuioui^lj his exertions
the church ami ^.'rounds were i,u-eatly imprcve.l, aud a
l>arochial residieiice elected, since which time the home
of the parish prit-st has Ix.'eu .u this }ilace. The com-
pleted church was dedicated by Bishop W'adhams, un-
der the ])r'itei-ti()n of St. Fhilip of X'U-i, with a lar_;*-
numlirr of visitin*^ pidests in atteiidatice. The new bell
was baptized with the natne of Pere Isaac Jo^ues, and
its niusieal sound tlo.-itedi forth over the lit*le island
wh.-re the L;iMilie pri'->t h.id ^uil'ered, two hundiid and
H J STORY OF WKSTl'Oirr r,0:i
forty years before. Tlio cruel savages are goiio. Their
aiiiinal-like wnrsliip of the forces of nature has coui-
luaiided no folhnvers since tlie}' were swept, away. But
the cross of Christ, ui)oii which Isaac Jogues fixed every
thouglit of his atKzuished son! as his ga'-ie swept the
liorizou of this uiKleruess, still shines as a symbol ovei
the whoh,' hiiid.
Father TI;i]a!i;vn w;is foUoweJ by the Itev. Francis
Xavier LaChance, who still ministers to the pei:)ple.
The church property on J-^leasaut street adds greatly to
the attractiveness of the village, as church, parish house
and cemetery are kept in tine order, and much care and
labor are expended on the. grounds, where the shrub-
berv and Ihjwer beds are more beautiful every summer.
IMlll'clOl*^:.
C)nl\ throe wer<^ ever committed on our .soii. In the
summer of 1S82 a man by the name of DeBosnys,
a Portugufse by birth, earner to Es^cx, and soon married
a widow by tlie name of iJetsy Wells. The fust of Au-
gust they drove to Port Henry, and returned l)y way of
tlm lake roa<l to Es-ex. In one of the loneliest spots
of that lonely road over the the Split Eock range, they
left the buggy and went into the wood, where DeBos-
nys shot and stabbed the woman, covered her body
with bushes, returned to tin-' buggy and drove on to
Essex alone. There he went into tin.' post otHce, and
while giving directions in regard to letters which might
come for him there in futui't^ an officer entered and ar-
504 uisTOjn' OF ]vi-:srroRT
rested liini, only five hoiivs nfter tlie niurJcr ha>l been
doue. His detection was rfally due to tlio loMtdin''Ss
of the spot which ha had chosen, and \\hieh })e had
reckoned upon as his greatest prutrvtion. T]-aveh)rs
were not so frequent upon that road as to pass unno-
ticed, and DeDosnys and his wife were seen topass.the
old Gen. \Yright i)iacc, wl,ere Allen Talbot then lived.
Soon aft(n-ward Mr. Talbot was out in tlio tields and
s;nv a nuiu skulking in the woods. Meeting a neighbor,
"William Tilinu, who lived in the next house toward
Essex, he learned that DeBosnys had been seen passing
Blinn's house alone. As DeBosnys was a foreigner
and a suspicious character, search was iainiediately be-
gun for the missing woman, and every movement of the
murderer and his victim was easily traced. DeBosnys
was tried tlie next ?.[arch, instantly convicted, and hung
at Elizabethtown April 27, 1883, the Sfcoml nma ever
hung in the county.
On the same lonely incnintaiu road, but two miles
nearer tlie village, occurred the second murder, in Feb-
ruary of 1890. Two old j)t-ople, Mr. and Mrs. Hansom
Floyd, living alone upon their farm, had sold a rock}-
pasture liigh up on the hills ot the S[)lit liock range,
and the check sent in [>aymeiit lay in the house. One
evening a masketl nnan entertxl and shot them lioth. It
v.as thought that he uK-'ant only to frighten then^ our >if
the money, but that she, a woman of extraordinary
strength and spirit, though frail in appearance, tore the
mask from his face and recognized him, and then in
self defence, to (.'scap.' .h't.otion, he biVl..! th-ni bol;-.
jusTonr OF WFsrroirr orr>
Eat tlio cluck liad Dovt-r hcr-n eiKlorsed, ami tlie Uiur-
derer left it behiiul him, smeared with bh.ody hiiud.s'. A
lio;]it snow fell to cover his tracks, and to this day it i^
not ku'^>\v \vhoii did the deed.
In Aniiust of th':^ same year a brutal wretch, Charles
Wright by nainr, killed an old woman whi^ lived alone
on another monntaiu road, the one that leads from
Steveusm:'s to ^rinevillo. Her uamt" was l^edelia Tav-
lor. The murderer w;is at once apprehended, an.d ul-
thouuh there was fioni the tirst no doubt whatever of
Ids j-Hiilt, it took the people of the state of New York
nearly three ycais to send hinj to imprisonmeut for life
iu Daiiuemora ]nison. Mai)y j^eople believe that this
mau Vrii_!:;ht also killed Mr. and Mrs. Floyd, as he was
at one tinif employed Uj/on the farm, and knew the
house W(dl. Tlie sale of the land and the i'ecei])t of
the check had been common talk for days in the nei_ah-
borhoo.} ;Mid in the vij!a^^e, aiid it was supposed tliat
the check li.-id l)een cashed.
Biblio'j:i'ar>hy.
The books (if Westjiort are not many. Aside frou) the
list of books coneernint!; the Cham[)l;iin valley, everv
one of which has of course a connection more or less
intimate' witli the history oi this township, 710 book has
ever been written about West[Jort until the pres-
ent volume. The actual literary prv)duction seeius [(,
bef.;in with the tirst newspaper, the L^^e.c Coinih/ "rino^
and //Vs/y,or/ //.v'^/'/, published fr.iU) ISll t) ISI4 by
oor, HISTORY OF WKSTl'Oirr
Anson H. Allen, imJ continued frcmi 184.-1 a few jear.s
longer bv DaviJ Turner, undei- tI\o name of the Essex
Coitntij Times. This is our one and only newspaper,
witli t]je exce])tion of a sheet called the Yiuih.e Xafio/i,
of whicli one i.s.sue was priiitod in the summer of 18')S,
by a niaji from Ycrgennes who tlid not seem to have
serious intentions.
Of contributions to ])erlodieal-^; outside the town, the
fir^t that I know are the letters written to the Xeir
York Eceiiinr/ Pos(, descriptive of a winter in Florida,
by Lieut, riatl 11. Halstead. in 1845.
The same year Sewall S^dvester Cutting became edit(jr
of ihe XeicYork Rccordfrr, a religious pa})er which he cou-
ducied for ten years, with the excej-ition of three years
in which he was editor of QiAarf.crhj Chr!.>^tiaii Rerlcic.
In 18.38 he pul)lished'' Historical Vindications of the
Baptists." His hymns and poems, which were nu-
merous and widely read, have never been colleL:ted iu a
volume. One of the most iuiportant was t^e alumni
j^oem, "Lake Champlain," read before the alumni
of the Utiiversity of Vermont at the Oommeneement of
1877. Of his uiany contributions to local history, per-
haps the best known is "The Genesis of the Luck-
board."
Judge Asa .\ikens ])ubiished one of his hiw-books,
''Forms," before condng to Westport, and another,
"Tables," in 1810, while living here.
We have h right to claim in our list Dr. George T.
Stevens' "Three years in the Sixth Corps," published
in 1800, iu Albany, bv S. K. Gri'V, ]>artlv fnuu the fact
iiisTuRY OF WF.srroirr sn?
itf Dr. Stevens' residence at Wadhams from 18.">7 to'Gl,
and partly because this \nok describes })articularK- the
v<<\v cxiieriences (if many ^VestDort men bi'l'ju<''iLi": to
the 77th X. Y. V. IJi.s later scientific works can hardly
be claimed in thi-> list.
A little volunie of letters of travel, written by Mrs.
Francis L Lee durinf; a western trip taken in 1886, was
dedicated to her jjiriuidchildrcn, and [uiblislu'd. in Bos-
ton i)i 1887. It is ''Glimpses of Mexico and California,
by S. M. Lee."
y[y. F. Y. l^ester, at one time Principal of our High
School, palilished in ISO;) a school book called "Nine
Ninety-nine Problems;."
Fici-aldry.
The armorial bearings of nations and individuals con-
nected with' (jju- history have made a pleasant study.
TliH Iroquois wjjo owned the land before tlic white man
cauie were armigers in the strictest sense, bearing to-
ti-mic insignia by which the tril)es were distinguished.
The totems of the Five Nations v.ere tlie bear, the deer,
the wolf, the tortfo'se and the beaver, all animals famil-
iar to our forests, which might well be quartered upon
a shield as the arms of the Iroquois Confederacy.
The first white man who ever saw the shores of ^Vest-
])Ort, Samuel d.- Champlain, und'.nibtedly l)ore arms, as
lie came of noble family, but the symbols u[)on his
fihield we do not know, ^ince his line is extinct, and no
reconls !ia\r vt been Taind in which tlic fafiiilv arms
.').9s insTonv of wT.sri'oirr
are givou. Tiie citv of (^uobec, fti^uinlr-d l>y Champlain,
and theiefero fiiixious to do liiin honor, lias spent niueh
time ami nioney iu the search, l)ut so far without result.
Sbould we represent our history h\ a serii-ss of shields,
symboliziiij; the ch;uij.;es in events from ]0U9 onward,
we sIkv.iKI place directly after the totems
of the Iroquois the royal insignia of France, the three
iroldtm lilies on an azure field \vliich were hla;^oned on
the first ilag which ever lloated ovei- our stul. After-
waid came the l)auner of Cugland, }WanteJ u])on the
walls of Crown Point fort, gorgeous in its many col-
ored quarterings. This was the flag to which Ray-
mond and liis settlers took oil" their hats when they
went to the fort, and the one whicii th^w frt)m the masts
of Carleton's ships when he fought witli I'eneilict Ar-
nr>ld in Northwest iiay. Arnold's shi|>s bore the Hag
of thirteen red and white stripes, with the three crosses
of St. Cieorge, St. Andrew and St. Patiick combineil in
the famili'ir unie'ii of tin) 3;>rili^h ensign. Now our
school chil'.lren ai-e tauglil to salute "the Hag of Wash-
ington," which is the same as ArnoliVs except for tlie
starry union which was afterward adopted.
The tirst owner of land in Westport, "William Gilli-
l.and, who surveyed the b(.)undaries of f)essl.>oro iu 17G1,
bore arms, — "azure, a lion rampant argent/' that is, a
silver lion stand.ing npiight on a shield of blut^ Tin^
crest is a right hand with a mailed wrist, clenching the
handle of a dagger, the helmet above the shield is that
of an es(]uire, and the motto is '•Dieu et mon p;iis"
iJisTom' OF wi:sTj'(jirr oOf)
("Gdd oDil my ]H;vice" in old Freiic-l!). These arms are
still used on the ljnok])lnt''^ of the Gilliland fatuily.
Next we may Jiaug the arms of tiio Irish Bessboro,
an earl(h)tj) of the Pnnsouhv family' in tl;e south of Kil-
kenny, uhlrh Gilliland doubtless had m mind wjien he
namrd tliis patent, althonp;h we know of no real co>i-
iiectiini betsveeii him and the Ponsonby estate. The
sliitjld i-. r*d, crossed by a silver chcvie>ii, with three
silver c<")ml)s, two iibovo and cue below the chevron.
The comb is a very uncommon charge in heraldry, but it
is eiplained th.at an ancestor of the J^ousonby family
canjA into Euo-I.iu,] with AViUiam the Conqueror and was
a]>]i(>interi barber to t1ie king, assuming three combs
upon his shi'dd. The crest is a snake twining about a
cluster of three arrows \Ahose points are downward, — a
device st.u'tjlingly prop'hetic of the New A\^orld Bess-
l>oro, if the serj'ent be a rattlesnake and the arrows the
stone iu'ad--d siiafts of the Iroquois. TJie motto is Prn
■n>jt.', I'lc'inuji.
The second owner of our soil, Sir Pliili]-- Skene, came
of a Scottish clan, \\ itli a tartan of its own, and arms
which were assumed in the time of King Malcolm 111.
A skene, readers of Scotch tales will remember, is a
short hunting dagger, d(^ubh) edged, which the High-
lander souK-tiuies cari'i<Ml iu his stocking. The story ts
that King Malcolm was attacked in the roy;d forest bv
a wolf, and the wolf was killed by one of the courtiers
whom the king rewarded by giving him arms of his own
which are thus descri!)tMl :
'•Tl;.> urnis ..f Sk-n- -.f that ilk ar.- :^u]es, three skrn,-.
noo II I STORY OF w'Ksrroirr
])alewHys in f^'ss Migent, hilted and poinmclled or, on
tlie point of eacli a wi>]r.s head coupc'd of the tliird.
Siippovters, dexter, a bif^ldandnian in his proper p;;irb
hoKlin;:; a skene iu his ri^^lit hand in a guai'din:^ pos-
ture; sinister, another highlandnran in a servile habit,
his target on the left arm and the dorbudi by tlie right
side, all proper. Crest, a dexter hmid proper holiiing a
<lrtgt^ei argent, hilted and pouiuulK-d or, sarini,)unted of
a wolfs liead. Motto, Yirtutis regia merces."
But thai Sir Philip who sailed on Lake Chainplain
was not a Skene of Skene, but belonged to that branch
of the faijiily called Skene of Halyards, a younger
branch whose cadency is indicated by a crescent as a
diderence, the shield being otherwise tljn s^une as the
arms of Skene of that ilk. Therefore if the village of
Westport sliouh.l desire to make use of the aiius of the
first owner of the soil as armorial bearings for the com-
munity, they would be a red shield, liearing three silver
daggers wit'u golden handles, the i)oint of each tiirust
into a Wolf's head.
Ot the eight men who owned SIcene's patent after the
iievolution,the t\voFlatts,Zephaniah and Nathaniel, came
of a family which boie arms, and a brilliant co;it it was,
which wuuld make a fine show on the seal of the city
of Plattsburgh. It was "[jarty per pale, or and gules ;
a lion passant argent, armed azure. Crest, a ehaplet."
That is, tin; shield is half gold and half red, divided iu
the middle lengtiiwise, and upon this glowing back-
ground walks a silver li<'>n with toes and tail tuft of blue.
The wife of Piatt P. --.IS w;i,-, a Vrii:-e. and l: i'":irms
II 'STORY OF wr.sTj'onr fjoi
do Wiltz" are "or, a chief -ulos," that i,s,a golden shield,
\vitli the upp-'i- third red. Crest, a cap of maiuteiiance,a
state oruameut often carried b-^fort;- a priuce or tho
mayor of a city on occisious of coremouy. The cap is
of red with a ri?n of gold, and above it are two golden
wings "ail vol." Whether that first Wiltse v-dio came
to Manhattan in IG06 had good right and title to this
coat of avjns it is liard to tell, but at lea^t many an
American claims arms and ancestry witli no more de-
cisive proof.
. There is no n)ore beautiful coat than that of Wad-
hams of Merritield, the colors being red and silver.
The shield is "gnlcs, a chevron between three roses, ar-
gent. Crest, a stag's head couped, with a rcrs.. between
tile horns." That is, on a red sliiold a silver chevron
between three silver roses, two above and one below.
Crest, a pair of antlers with part of the skull attached,
couching them; t],e whole of gnh], except the rose,
which is silver. This shield is found upon the seal of
the bishopric of Ogdensf)urgh, but not the cn-st, since
a bishop bears no crest.
One depjirtmeni of heraldry belongs ahnost entirely
to the new w„rhb---tl]at of inventing couts of nrms for
new coMmouwealth.s. Why shouhl not dear old West-
port have at least this one article of luxurv, which
ought not to cost nu)re than a litlle inventive power,
together with a sympathetic knowledge of her history?
1 would here hurubly ottVr an escutcheon which has
--haped Itself in my imagination as symbolic of the
to^^n. Let ns t.ke the GilJiland tinctures, blue and
tjo-2 HISTORY or wk'ST/'o/rr
silver, the stitne as those (jf the hike and the up.L-Iouclt:!il
sky. Let the shiekl be of silver, to synibolize th>"
gleiiuiiug surface of tlie hav, ami h.'t ns have a chief ()f
azure, like the sky which beiitls above it. On this azure
cLief put thiee golden tleurs-de-lys, for Champlaiu, and
for the hundred and tlfty years of the sijvereiguty of
France. For motto we will take Gillilaud's t.wa, "G<;d
uud my peace," sinc<i nothin-- ould b>e bettor for au un-
ambitious little town of quift history. I ain more in
doubt libout the crest than anything else. Shall it bo
Skene's silver dagger with the wolfs heail upon it, or
the tomahawk of one of jiogers' Rangers sunk into the
head of a lynx V Or shall v.e have the graceful two-
masted pej-i;igna of the JMattsburgh proprietors under
full sail, or the first Vermont, with, its long trail of
smoke? But these are all too elaborate, since good
heralilry is not jMctorkil, but symbolic. The stug's
antlers wordd be Ij^tLor, such ;is have toss. 'd among our
forest trees for untold centuries. If it is left to me,
I sliidl draw the arms of Wes'cpoi-t anjcnt, on a rJiitf
uzurr fhrec jfe'trs-iJr-hjH <>r. Crest, a afaifx head cntipcd,
anjtiif. \A'hen this is hung upon the wall we will sur-
round it with a mantling of rich greeu, for the foliage
of (Hir summer landscape, and tlie motto shall be "'Die-c
cf 7)10,1 y»'/'.s'." For sui^jiorters we might have a woods-
man with his axe ;i,nd outs of Rogers' Rangers in full
buckskin, l)ut I incline to one of our black bears ou the
dexter side, \vith an immense n)uskal(nige, as big as the
one Cham]daiu tho'.ight lu- saw, which was C(.M-tainly of
a -^ize to balance that t-f a b-j.a-, on the .-,iiii-tor ^ide.
HISTORY OF WKSTJ'Oirr f'O-^
This may also syiubulize tlie tlsb stories of tlie smuiner
boarder, ami shall l)e the ouly hiut of mo^lorn coinli-
tious. I confess that I coutemplate this iiua^inary
shield with some coinplaceucy. IVrhajts, wlieu the
American College of Horakls shall be finally constitu-
ted, 1 shall be given some humble otuce, — 1 think I
should like to be Portcullis, —and then I promise you
that it shall uot be forgotien.
Additionnl Fac-ts.
The leisurely manner in which this l)ook has gone
through the press has given amplr-timt^ fcv the iliscovery
of niany additional facts. In a little book in the State
Library, "Benedict Arnold's riegimentai Mernorandum
Book, written while at Ticonderoga ;ind Crown Point.
17'/ o, "which was [)riuted in thePeiinsylvania Magazine of
History and Biography in L884, are several references
toFvaymond's I\Jills. On June 1st ArnoUl writes, "Sent
a boat to Raymond's Saw INJiils for Boards to repair
the Ban-acks, <.V:c., at Crown Point. 'Idien June 3rd, "8
Carpenters emjijoyed in repairir.g the liairacks. lle-
ceived two thousand feet l^oards from Kaymond's mill,"
ji part of which he sent to Ti. The same day "Sent
Capt. M'Keiizie in his Batioe to llaymund's mill for
boards." This was probat)lv Wilham ^Mclvenzie, the
first settler upon tlie site ui Port Henry, and lioubtless
liviug there at this time, since he was the owner of a
batteau which could be presseil 'mio thi.' service. June
ooi iiisrum' OF WKsri'virr
4th, "Seut a bvit to liayinoiids for Ash for Oars ami
Tron^'hs for (^uus," aii-l tlie I'Jth uikI KUli a boat
brou^^'iit boarJ.s from the saiuo phice. On tho Ir.tli ho
wiitr'S, "St.'ut a boat \vith SkfUi's Negroes to di_7 ore."
These were tlie twelve shaves taken at Skeiiesboro a
few weeks before, who had been h'ft there by Sirrhiiip
Skene for the service ;inil i)rotec-.tion of l)is family.
Later in the diary Arnold notes the ar)-Jval of "3 Miss
Skeins"' at Crown Point, probaljly to be placed on
board one of the shins to be taken southward. Arnold
had ever a winnitiL; way with wotnen, and we may im-
agine him graceful, deferential, sym[)athetic, toward the
three C!i{>tive ladies of high degree ; while he made
good use of their slaves in titting out his tieet. He sent
the slaves to Sktsue's ore be<l to dig ore. and then had
it trd;eu to Skeuesboro and forginl into bolts and links
and whatever he needed for his ships. June 16th he
"sent to Kaymotid's !Mill for Tim})t*r and provisions for
Skiue's Negroes. ' If he had had to wi'ite Sir Pliili])'s
uatne again perlnips he would have invented still an-
other way to spell it, but the diaiy ends June 2-ith,
leaving us with so much more food for the imagination
iu dwelling upon the life in our first settlement.
In remiuisceuees of early settlers on the Vermont
shore, gathered betimes into the immortal "Hemeuway,"
we tind that one Thomas Hinekh.'V lived at Raymonds
MilU in tlie fall of 177S, and was taken ca})tive, with
almost every other man on both sides of tlio lake, and
put on board one of the JJritish ships to be carried to
Canaila. The {lolicy of the Dritisli at this time was to
msTORY OF wi:sTr()irr i:i)r,
remove the fif^litiug men aud leave the women ami
children hehiiul to rotaru to the older settlemf-nts.
These were collected in batteanx, and two of the pris-
oners, Elijah Grandey of Pautonand Thomas fliaekle}',
were released for the express purpose of takini;- these
V)atteaux loaded witli women, clnhh-eii and a few hastily
snatched household goods, to Skenesboro. PiMb.-ddy
the coraniandincr otficer intended settiufj; sail at oiu-e,
and could not Avait fcir the retina of two of his own men
fronrthis errand.
It was at this time tliat Peter Ferris, who ha<l
brought his family from Dutchess coiuity in 1700 and
settled opposite J^iaymond's Mills, was taken to Canada
and coutiued in Quebec until June of 17S*2. His h.ouse
was burned by an old Tory neighbor, and so we cnn
never see it, v.-ith the marks of the cannon .l);dls that
struck it as Carleton fired volley after volley into the
retreating shi[»s of Arnold, in Oetnber of ITTi".
]jut there was one man living at Paymond's Mill at
this period who retaiur^d the eontldouee of the Pritish
to such a degree that he was left at liberty- while his
neighbors and friends wtre beirig carried into cap-
tivity. His nan)e was Webster, and in thi^ calaaii-
tous November of 177S he shelterfd Lt. Benjamin Ev-
erest, a Green Mountain Boy of Pauton, who esca[ied
from a British ship as it lay at Ti. and made his way
northward through the woods to the Piaynnrnd setth--
inent. Everest spent one night in the forest, aiut eain.-
at sunrise to Put's creek. Kee])ing well back on tlie
lulls, but always in sight of the l.-.icf, he pa<scd thcf Tt
008 JIISrORY OF WEST PORT
at Crowt) Poiiit at a prndcnt di.stanco, and about mid-
day came to Iwwmond's Mills. As ho drew near the
sottlenieut, he heard tlie strokes of an axe ringiup; clear
in the sharp November air in the woods back of tlie
clearing. Skulking behind trt?os, he came. near enough
to the axeman to recognize AVebater, and made liimself
known. Webster started to take him to his cabii), but
as they came ont of t!ie wo.)d.-> into the clearing they
saw the whole Biitish iieet, laden as it was with cap-
tured Yankees, come dro})piug down the lake with a
light breeze. The ships came to anchor for the night
in mid-channel, directly opposite the settlement, and
Everest cre|)t l.iack into the wo(k1s once more, hungry
and shivering, u hile Web.^ler went ivito the house and
carried food to the fugitive. Then they agreed upon a
])lan and a signal. Webster returned to his house ami
built a roaring tire in the rmle stone fireplace v^-jth
sticks from the woo<lpilo which lav at evtii-y frontiers-
man's door. After nightfall, wh^iu all was quiet on
Ifoartl the tleet, with no sign of search parties sent out
for escaped prisoners, Webster opened his door, letting
out the light from his fireplace upon the dark woods,
and split a few sticks of uood from his woodpile. As
the strokes of Ins axe sounded on the still, frosty .-ur,
heard as plainly hy the sentries on board the tleet as
l)y Everest hitliug in the woods, he whistled a tune
which had been agreed upon as a signal that all was
well. The sentries heard only a l)ackwoudsmau split-
ting wood at his door to keep his tire going in th(? chill
aulumn niu'ht, but Evnt-st hoard and s[)v-d awav in the
jnsronv or wFsrruirr cot
darkness to tlio ])luce on tlie slioic Avhei-e lie kn'n^- \\A\
ster"y canoe was lying, pusluul it oti am.l nitililloil si-
lently away. He ci<.>s.^e(.l the lake \\ithout attracting
attention from eiflior tleet (.^r fort, lan-leJ on tlie shore
and made his way to Castlfton.
Thi.s story brings out the tact that the luiyinond set-
tlement w;is by no means deserttd until ;if or 17V>>. The
settlors prohitbly iKd to the s.nuli aftci Arnold's defeat
by Carletou, returning to their farms the next spring,
or }iorhaps not ui^til after the surrender nf Bu.rgoyne in
1777. "\Vu kuc»w that on tiie Veiiuoiit shore the settlers
who were driven from their Inuues during the \<\\v al-
most invariably returned to then] again, sometimes in
the face of jjositive dangei-.
In a list of early boatmen on the lake we find the
names of Elijah Newell and Levi Hinckley, about 1790,
who probably sailed bo^its behaiging to the merchant
lleet of "Adniirah' Gideon King of Burlingl(.;i. A
Search for the name.-, and hi^toru-s of vessels built at
the shipyard of Alexander Ytuuig ;it Young's bay has
been rewarded by one uanie only, that of the Knin<-f)i\
a sailing bi)at of fifty tous, "built for }{. and A. Fer)-is,
at IJarber's Point, by Young," in Ih^lO.
As for the early su]>ervisor.N w ho delibernted ijpon
our town affairs, tiie first w,is AVilliam "Mdvenzie,
electe<l in 171UJ for the ti-'wn of Crowti Poiut. the same
"Capt. >rKeuzie," I think, who cnria.Ml boards for Ar-
nold in his liatteau in June of 177o. He livrd near the
site of P(Mt Henry, and went to Pbittsburgii i^'' meet
the four other .^up'r\ i-^ors A Ciijit >!i (•(.;uit\-. I'lie luxt
60S , HISTORY or WKST/'Ojrr
supervisor of Crown Point wa.s John Ki!-I)v, who liveLl
at Kirbv's Point in TiconJeroga. He is said to liave
been a Tor}- during the rcvolutiou, and Cook sa^-s that
his family wore sent to Canada in batteaux by Carietou
at the beginning of tlie war, vetiirniug in 17S'2. Kivl)y
first knew this region through his service in the old
French war.
Then when the town of Elizabethtown was formed in
1798, its first supervisor was Ebonezer Newell, wlio
lived at Northwest Ba\ . I have erroneously stated on
page 169 tiiat this first supervisor wasEbenezer AniolJ,
a name since proven to l)elong only t(^ a uiyth.ic.il per-
sonage conjured up by the mistake of a printer who
misunderstood some one's poor penmanship and printed
Arnold foi' Xcirell in the Essex County iriistory of 1S35,
whence my information was obtained.
C^oiiclHrsioii.
Closing my book, I am reminded of soau^thing in a
novel published perhajKS twenty years ago, — '"Jujiiter
Lights," by Constance Fenimore AYoolson. Cicely had
been ill, and was watched over l)y a nurse ^vhom
Khe exceedingly disliked, a slow, commonplace woman
who never read but one b<K>k, and that a history of her
uative town. "Cicely gazed at her for some tiu)e; then
she jumped from the coucli with a quick lioand. "ItV.
HISTORY OF WKSrrORT r.oo
impossible to lie Lore ani^tlwr instant aui,l see that
liiston-()f Witn.lhani, Connecticut I The next thing you'll
be proposii)g to read it aloud to uie,'", which \^-as sooi;?-
thing that Cicely could never have endured. Thisvii-v,-
of the entert.i-iuing qualities of a to\\ri l;istory was onc>^
my own, arnl it soaietin)e.s surprises me yet to reticct
that I h;ive lived to put my name to such a volume.
Dull and dry it seems to a stranger, lait to us who can
read between th.e lines it will be, 1 know, a real, live
book, in spite of all its mistakes and omissions. I ex-
]>ect correction, heartv and plentiful, as soon as it comes
to be rea(t, and shall receive it with gratitude. Such is
the advantage of writing a book whicli deals only with
facts and woi with opinions. I am conscious that- the
genealogical notes are often incomplete, and it may be
asked why certain families have their genealogies given
with some.' fullness, while other families, no less imj^ort-
ant or interesting, receive no mentit^m at all. To this
(juestion I would humbly answer that ujy services have
been limited by my ignorance. 'J'hat i.^,, if] happened
to ki\ow something of a family line 1 put it down as
well as I couKl, but seldoai found time to niake many
in(juires iri regard to lines with which 1 was not famil-
iar. Furthermore, I will confess tinr I have sometiu)es
gazed in wistful sih'tice upon a semi-acquaintance,
longing to ask cpn-stions about gran^ifathers and great-
gi'iiudfathers and simihir thimrs, Init mindful of the
fact that of all bores the worst is the genealogical boie
when it would seem that there is something meddle-
some in his borini;. 'i'liis is the h;ss creditable to liiv
010 nis'ioRY OF wESTi'oirr
eiitei-{)rise since J. have lu-vei, in w siiigle instance, mot
uitb anytliing but tlie most proin])t ami pleasant re-
sponse to any question I fouutl courage to ask.
No one, I suppose, is allowed to clioose the one thing
I)}' which l\e is to h*^ remeniberocl most when aciiou
sliall have ceased, an*.! thought can no longer make it-
self known. l^>ut could I choose, I v.ould be satisfied
;dways to l)r> rcmembcr-.-d as one \\\\o put some years
of hard and hajipy \vovk u|U)n the history of my Uiitive
town, and made it to be known forever by another
name, — the name of Bessboro.
II/STOin' OF V,i:STPORT
<U2
4_0
"Thus aiLieb is siived from chance uud cbaijc?e,
Tbcit waits for me and tbco.
Tbus niucb— hosv little! — from tbe range
Of Death and Destiuv."
Fro,
!f<.hs an<l Phrync'
Academy, H81
Agricultural Society
Aikeus,
Alden,
Allen,
Anbury,
Angier,
Armory,
Arnold,
Avery,
285, 4:-}:
413.
125,
52f:
8S3,
458.
439,
371,
419,
130,
, 598,
B
Biicon, 457,
Baptist church. 206, 26G,
319. 340.
370. 397,
420, 444,
499.
Barber, 1(;7. 171. 22 L 223.
Barnes, 277, 517, 521,
Barron.
Basin Harbor, 173, 181,
242, 248,
272, 307.
Battle of Northwest Bay,
Battle of Plattsburgh,206,
Battle of Valcour,
Bessboro, 2, 107. 150,
Bibliography,
Boquet I'iver.
Boquet affair.
Boundary Commission,
Boutweil.
Braiuard's Forge.
Bramau. 2<M). 24',). 2G5,
Brown, John 458,
Bui-goyne,
Button Bav, 115,
4(51!
Call, .-
380
. 472
Camp meetings
. 352.
3(18.421.
59i;
409.
543|Carletou,
114, 132
444|Carroll.
127
137|Cemeteries,
27
302Cbamplain.
77
504iCburch trials.
420
243.!Civil war.
501
hob; Clark.
378
270 Climate,
70
Clinton,
144
Cole,
205
208, 350
, 592 Coll,
215
304.}CoinmissioD to
Canada, 127
3<it;.iCoaiTjaDv A,
513, 554
405. Comstock.
229. 309
45G, Congregatioua
1 chur
ch, 352.
393
417, 499
. 28G Congress.
134
. 527! Convention,
434
' 274iCorlear,
83
185, 'Costume.
363. 460
259, County seat.
212
iCrowu Point.
^84
, ]32iCuttiug. 33
2, 353
369, 598
,431
132
D
5!)9
DeT.auo,
288, 358
595! Dialect,
73
4li Dickens,
422
257
Digby,
136
114
Doctors.
488
345
Douglass,
242, 457
3(i(;
Dunster,
288
, 322. 537
, 504
Durfee,
205, 410
, 479
£
130
Karlv settlement, 17
7,186,237
, 13>
Eddy,
390, 495
EUzabethtowu, ]()9 Flencierson, 217
Everest, GOa'lJeraldry, 51)7
iHigby. 3S7
F iHiijkley, 22)5. GO4, l;()7
Falls, 200 Flofl^'kius, 320
Felt, 201 Bolcomb, 221.238.255,479
Ferris. 219. 605 Holt, 4G5
Ferry, 172, 41 <J Howard, 301.341
Finney, 227'Hiiuier, 2S5. 401. o7G
Fire, 5S0[
Fisher, 22G; I
I'^loyd. -'^''-illDdiuD oi-eupution. 70
t'l-aoklin, l-'i'jroo, 107, 213, 404, 43S, 443,
French and Indian War. SG; 451. 453. j^js, 557, 5G3,
Freshets. 365. 47 Ij 537
Frisbie, IBS, 205, 271. 2S7. 305
Folks I L'sed to Know, 1G3 j
iJackson, 451
G- iJeuks, 217
Geology. !•) Jogues, 79. 592
Gibbs. ^11- 5^'-' Johnson, ' 144
(iillilaud. Elizabeth :-^, Uti Joubert, 510
130. 141. 1S2, 184. 2G0; K
Gillilaud, William 105. 112.'Kello<-'-<^'- 3^7
142, 1S3, SOSKent,""' 372
GotT, 4:.3, 457 Ki^Lley, 471
Greeley, 355^
Gross. 388 t.
Lazarre. 270
H ;Lee. 402, 450, 4S7, 541,
Halstcad, John 187. 191. 203. Library. 5S3
215. 344, 3(i4, 43'.)|Lighthouse, 575
•Halstcad, Piatt R. 251. 208.'Livin>,'st()u Pat.Mit, 155
285. 307, 322, 3o(i.'Lobdell. 1G9. 227. 249. 2s(>. yiKii
441, 59o. jLoveland, i:)3. 373. 419. 43',',
Halstead house, IvSS. 345: 473. 5i)4.
Hamlets, 19 Low, 226
Haramond, 220. 355. 455 Lumber. 3ij0
Hardv, ■ 2ti3 M
Harper. 228; .Maps, 4n. 85. 109. 148. 159,
Hatch, Charles 195. 313, 342, | 1S7. 218, 313, 317.
471. 394. 427.
Elay, 119, 370 .Miicd 0110 ui'h, 250. 207
INDKX.
Mack. 4r)7 Patents. • 150
Masons. H.')0. 4fJH Pattison. 40fi
MeCcnnic-k. lot; Pavuo, 4^)i;. oil -y-\\
.MrKenzie. 00;>,. CUT Peddlers, 4:17
McKitnu'V. oMx 371 Pierce, 34S
McNeil. " 270, 2S.j. 332 Pipes, 477
Medical society, 4SS^Pii-oi;ue. Isu
Mei>.^s, 454 Plank road. 4-1:5
M. E. cbtireb. 3t)5, 31H, 340.: Plaits. 1^-' ♦;0o
3:)i). 370. '582, 3:-)i').!Pollard. ' H7:)
40(i, 44:>, 50U, 5G4 iPouds. all
Mej-riam, " 347iPopulation. 12. 3r)7. -ITy'J 47i;
Militici, 241K 2Bj! 494
Modern historv. 579|Post office, 321. 337. -11 m
Mill brook, 2U4j Productions, 13. 3:)7
Millefism, 427, Putnam, K'.i
Militos^-u. lO"). 12'.<'
Mor^'an. i;)7. 213 O
Mountains, 55;Qiiebec map. 40
Murder>s. 5031
My rick, 316, 343. 34.S, 43.^| R
I Railroad, 457. 579
N jRaunev, ' 391
N^i'ne, 2jRav. 230
Newell. . 227. 2^.:. 320. 3:)G.:Pavmond. 117.1;;:)
4'.n, :>.")(;. ti(i7, (;ns ;^ivan>nd's Mills. 120. Uf). tiO;;
Ni'uspaper.413. 423. 42^. 435.'R./veiIl.'. li^H
-I4n. o95. iRevivals, 351.353. 3iJ9
^V'"''"'-^- 227|i-:icu.!rds. 2iS. 3^2
Noble. <ieu. Pumsom 245. 255 :Ricdescl. 139
257. iUinj:. 172
Noble. Henry flarinoi) 43, 40:'ll;;i vers. 41
Nortnu-est Bay. ir^Jpoads. ;-!3. 5i;h
Norway Furuace. 56ii;i-;ock Hart^or. 172
O 'Posrers. RnbL 89, lu_'
^^^-i^^^'i'"'-, 45t.;Ro<:ers. i'iatt .\iv, 152. 154
O-s-uods Mill, 15:-J 15(;, 173. ISO. >!'.
I 1S5, 197. 242, 291
P jRomau Catholic cburcli. 59()
1 iii-''^ ;432. 495. 57i:Root. )',:<
Papineau war, 39: 'ilovce. XVI
Parkman, 17s. r^i i
INI
'K\.
s
Siiwvcr. XII. ooO. y.t'd
.Hi;7,
;57(i 1'rainiij<,'s,
283
'67\. -JHT.
4»i2,
5!o";j;i-'\v,
344
Scboi.Ls, 170, 177,
y-;y.
y^l.iuroer,
413
:iS3. w:.
4H2;
40i) '_ . U
Scbiiylor. S4, 114. lU), 12h
; ]4() rr.ifr/rnis.
280
Seventv-five,
21
,'557 V
/Shedd,'
?.00 Vak'our, battle of
132
' Sheldon,
225
. 474 VunVleck.
443
Sherman, 2:»0
. 40 S
. 4()U Vi!hi;;e rnaps, 1^7
, 313
, 317
Sisc'O l'"iiruac>:\
45 i.
5<S
Skene, KM. 1-11
. :>w,
(•1)4
\y
Skene'.s Piiteot.
150
War of 1812.
240
Slaves,
182
Wad hams, Bishop
3''*7
, 601
Sinufiftjlintr.
241
j - Capt..
544
Sinith,
242
, 42H
Gen. 255,
285,
325.
St'OU',
220
i 337,
475.
Soldier.s of 1812.
284
Wasbin.i^tou,
147
Son^jTS of 1812,
277
'Webster.
005
Southwell,
•;•")(!
We.-stport Farms,
5Sb'
Sneneer,
u'-'i!
West port Inn.
5.S2
Stacy,
227
i Wharves, 21*5, 354,
390,
444,
Steamboat. 201t. ;'.0O.
417.
422.
1- 407!
4:-;t:. 44 i. 440
, 4(.(;.
. 490;
Whitnoy,
202
Stevens. 47:^, :>2:).
. 52h,
5!)0|
Wil!i;ims,
157
Sttn<M?soi), - 2iJi>,
, 4()S,
40;i|
Wi:l^,e.
XIV,
, Oi»0
Stone.
31 Ij
Winans,
210
Supervisors, lt'9. 17t
). 572
, 007 1
Wo()lsey,
Women of the War,
154,
, 241
545
T
Wrecks — Troy,
;:«4
Taylor,
:-'45
Mcr»oiioii£!
■h.
417
Temperance, rJtJU,
h:)7.
424,1
Champ lain
570
447.
44S.
Webster,
408
T'linpkitjs. Cov.
245
Sheldon.
473
Town n)eetir,gs,
16it,
297;
Wright. 173. 243.
254. •
257.
Tiiun records,
•-";.;
2i;4. 2S4,
324.
Tract, Split Fiock
15-!
Tract. Iro'j Ore
15S
.2L-I
Y
Trafalgar,
'20^
VouD<;. 223, 38; >.
411,
007
/''/y/^j-?. 7 4
5748